Rhodes Of Africa Felix Gross

92

Gross

Rhodes of Africa

57-09020

RHODES OF

Cecil Rhodes

RHODES
OF AFRICA

by

FELIX /GROSS

and
pages of half-ton^ illustrations

FREDERICK A. PRAEGER
NEW YORK

BOOKS THAT MATTER

Pioblistied in trie United States o

America in 1957 by Frederick: A. Praeger,

Inc., Pxzblisliers, 150 East 5.znd Street,

ISTew York ^a, N.Y.

reserved

Library of"
Catalog Card rsfixmber: 5 ~j 7 63 .2,

n

In Memoriam

AUTHOR'S NOTE

rip HIS book, the result of twelve years of research work, is
JL based on authentic contemporary sources. The thoughts and
soliloquies of Cecil Rhodes are derived from his speeches, letters
and reported conversations. So as not to interrupt the continuity
of the story I have refrained from giving references in footnotes.
An extensive bibliography of Rhodes and his times will be
published later as it would be too bulky to be included in this
volume. Ipi order to give inquisitive scholars an opportunity to
make use of this bibliography one copy will be deposited in each
of the following libraries:

Public Library, Cape Town.

Library of the British Museum., London.

Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Library of Congress, Washington (D.C.).

I wish to express my gratitude to my daughter, Miss Ursula A,
Gross, M.A., M.S., for her great assistance and patient collabora-
tion. To Miss Anne Kramer, B.A., and Mr Sidney Macer- Wright,
my cordial thanks for their useful help.

CONTENTS
PARTI

CHAPTER PAGE

I TO AFRICA 3

ii DIAMONDSI DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! 15

III C THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE 3 }I

IV GOD*S CHOSEN PAINTER 46

V ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR 64

VI THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA 83

vii 'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW* 106

VIII THE FAT OF THE LAND iz6

PART II

IX KING OF THE MATABELE 137

X RED> BRITISH RED l6o

XI A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST 183

XII ON THE PERSONAL 2*4

XIII GROOTE SCHUUR 243

PART III

XIV THE UPSET APPLECART 273

XV A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE 296

XVI *. . . ALL BUT THE BOILS* 323

XVII UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE 341

xvin WAR 359

XIX SO MANY WORLDS 386

INDEX 421

vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Cecil Rhodes (Picture Post) Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Cecil Rhodes 5 birthplace at Bishop's Stortford (Camera Press) 22

Rhodes aged about 17 (Rhodes Memorial Museum, 'Bishop's

Stortford} - 22

Dry sorting for diamonds in 1872 (Rhodes Memorial Museum) 23

L. S. Jameson, C. F. Harrison, F. C. Selous, A. R. Colquhoun

(Rhodesia House) 23

The diamond market at Kimberley in 1888 (Exclusive News

Agency) 54

Alfred Beit (Picture Post\ 54

The Kimberley Club in 1888 (Exclusive News Agency) 55

Charles Rudd (Rhodes Memorial Museum) 5 5

De Beers Diamond Mines at Kimberley (Exclusive News

Agency) 118

Barney Barnato (Elliott and Fry) 119

The cheque drawn for the acquisition of the assets of the

Central Company (RJbodes Memorial Museum) 119

Sir Leander Jameson (Exclusive News Agency) 150

The Indaba tree at Bulawayo (Exclusive News Agency) 151

Lobengula, King of the Matabele (Exclusive News Agency) 151

Paul Kruger and his wife (Exclusive News Agency) 278

Olive Schreiner (Exclusive News Agency) 279

Princess Radziwill (Picture Post) 279

Groote Schuur (Exclusive News Agency) 310

Parliament House, Cape Town (Exclusive News Agency) 310

The cottage in which Rhodes died (Exclusive News Agency} 311

The grave of Rhodes (Exclusive News Agency) 311

PART I

CHAPTER I

TO AFRICA

o T RANGERS often mistook the ugly grey three-storeyed house
O for a boarding-school* Its cold drabness and the noise pro-
duced by the many children may have led to this assumption. To
the inhabitants of Bishop's Stortford the building was familiar as
the Vicarage. They did not see anything ugly in its bleak grey
walls; on the contrary, it appeared to most of the few thousand
people of this sleepy Hertfordshire market-town as an imposing
structure with its numerous wide windows and the many little
brown earthen chimneys on an almost flat shingle roof.

In front of this house there now stood often in the early
mornings an elderly tall slim man. His finely-shapen head with
the wide forehead of a thinker, crowned by a tuft of long white
hair, and his prominent hooked nose indicated a remarkable
personality. The Reverend Francis William Rhodes did not need
clerical dress to stamp him as a clergyman.

Among his parishioners the Vicar's courtesy and charitable
activities earned him respect rather than popularity, though
people had become accustomed to his unconventional manners
and eccentric ways. Everyone considered him an excellent
preacher and not only because his sermons never lasted more than
ten minutes. All knew of his deep and sincere religiosity. His
family had to attend every church service and his children had to
take turns as teachers at Sunday school. As a reward they received
a pious book every year.

Watching the Vicar waiting anxiously for something or some-
one every morning, the townspeople at first thought that he had
developed a new eccentricity. Soon they found that he was on
the look-out for the postman. Was he then so deeply interested in
the progress of the war between the French and the Prussians
that he had to obtain his copy of The Times a few minutes
earlier?

Others knew better: he was hoping that the postman would
bring one of the rare letters fr6m South Africa. If a man has

[3]

RHODES OF AFRICA

three sons in that wild part of the world, and one of them a mere
lad, it Is little wonder if he is worried.

The Reverend Mr Rhodes missed his sons. It had lately become
oppressively quiet in the Vicarage* At one time there had been
twelve children filling the house. From his first wife, who had
died two years after their marriage, there had been one daughter.
His second marriage had been blessed with two daughters and
nine sons. The eldest daughter had married her cousin, another
Rhodes, and two of the boys had died in infancy, so that there
had still been nine children to bring up.

Mr Rhodes was not a rich man but he had cherished the
ambition that his seven sons, his * Seven Angels of the Seven
Churches', as he called them, should enter the church. First, of
course* they had to pass through one of England's old public
schools, to make gentlemen of them. He himself had succeeded,
through his education at Harrow and Cambridge, in ascending on
the social ladder from being the son of a simple though quite
well-to-do farmer in Essex to becoming a member of the seemingly
impenetrable caste of gentlefolk. About his ancestors he knew
only little. In the seventeenth century they had been cow-keepers
and farmers. Later one of them had also owned a brick and tile
works.

Why they came to bear the name of an island in the Aegean
Sea was unknown. People, judging by the outlandish name and
the prominent large ^Rhodes nose', were convinced that they saw
some definite Semitic traits in their features. Jewish descent of
the Rhodes family was the more feasible since many Jewish
inhabitants had left the island of Rhodes in the seventeenth
century for Italy, whence several emigrated to London, and they
may have changed their foreign name to one indicating their
place of origin.

The Reverend Mr Rhodes was less concerned about the past
than about the future of his family. By sending his eldest son*
Herbert, to Winchester and the next two, Frank and Ernest, to
Eton, he believed he had laid for them the foundation of a
successful clerical career. Great had been his disappointment when
all three declared that they had decided to become officers in the
Army, He realked that he could not force them into taking Holy
orders, but was determined not to help them financially in their
purpose. His obstruction did not deter the boys. Most probably

[4]

TO AFRICA

they were encouraged by their aunt, Sophia Peacock Aunt
Sophy the wealthy spinster-sister of his wife, who had always
spoilt them. Aunt Sophy financed Herbert when he entered a
crack cavalry regiment, paid him a liberal monthly allowance and
promised to do the same for Frank and Ernest.

None of the three eldest Rhodes boys was really suited for the
pulpit. In his earliest youth the eldest boy, Herbert, had shown his
unruly temperament and adventurous spirit. He did not fit into
the discipline of army life either. What should be done with a
young man whose only asset for the struggle of life was his educa-
tion as a gentleman, who had no means and who had not learnt
anything practical? There was no room in England for second
sons of the nobility, much less for other young gentlemen if they
could not find a niche in the Army, the Church or politics.

To emigrate? Yes, but where? To Africa? Prospects for settlers
in the Cape Colony had been quite good, people said, until recently.
Reports on the Natal Colony sounded more promising: a rich,
almost untapped country where on luscious ground, aided by
a sub-tropical climate, everything grew by itself. For the modest
sum of a few hundred pounds one could buy some hundreds of
acres and Eve the free life of a real gentleman-farmer, letting the
Kaffirs do the work for a few pence. One could mix there with
one's own class and would not have to |ear trouble with those
uncouth Boers to which one was exposed in the Cape.

Herbert left the Army and sailed for Natal. Frank, the second
son, who neither possessed the easy and amiable manners of his
eldest brother nor was blessed with great intelligence or initiative,
also chose an army career but as his commission could not be
expected for some time, he too was packed off to South Africa,

The third son, a rather indifferent youngster, and later two
younger boys, followed the example of the two eldest brothers.
Thus five of the *Seven Angels of the Seven Churches*, to their
father's bitter disappointment, had preferred the sword to the
crucifix. Only two were to remain civilians.

His fourth son, Cecil John, the sixth child of the Vicar's second
marriage, remained his fathers last hope of seeing at least one
of his boys follow his vocation. Cecil, a difficult child, was
different from the others whom he outstripped by far not only
in inteUigence and energy, but also in stubbornness. He resembled
most his elder sister Edith. Both had inherited from the Rhodes

RHODES OF AFRICA

side beside the prominent "Rhodes nose' their energy, imagina-
tion, shyness and a predilection for seclusion.

Cecil's temper, already in his earliest years, was unpredictable,
changing suddenly from gentleness to an outburst of rage. He
was a slender pale-looking child whose delicate build gave a
wrong impression of frailty* His fair hair, with a golden glint,
Hs grey-blue dreamy eyes, made him an attractive and pleasant
child to look at,

Cecil was born on 5 July 1853. He grew up at a time when
England was going through a bitter period of bloody wars: the
Crimean War; the Indian Mutiny; the expedition to China; armed
intervention in Mexico; a conflict with the United States; bom-
bardment of Japanese ports; war in Abyssinia; uprising in Ireland.
Britannia was feeling the first pangs of imperialistic labour-
pains, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, the bastard children of
the Industrial Revolution, were preparing themselves to act as
midwives at the birth of the Imperium 'Britannicum*

Such a time of flag-waving would make an impression on any
boy, even one not as sensitive as the Reverend Mr Rhodes* fourth
son. And Cecil Rhodes as a boy was extremely sensitive, introvert
and lonely. He could not make friends. To the boys at school, who
all called each other by their Christian names, he always remained
just 'Rhodes'. It was probably his proud bearing, the refinement in
his speech and also perhaps a slight girlishness in him, which pre-
vented the young ruffians from taking to Hm, Cecil did not even
take a great interest in the school sports; only once, in his thirteenth
year, did he become a member of his school's cricket eleven-
Mrs Rhodes, ni* Peacock, was already thirty years old when
she became the Vicar's second wife. For almost twenty years of
her life she was either pregnant or had to feed the latest baby.
Besides her duties as a housewife and keeping the wild crowd of
growing children under control, it could hardly have been easy
to be the wife of so eccentric a maa as the Reverend Mr Rhodes.
She tried hard to balance the Vicar's Spartan educational methods
by tender sympathy. Her charming ways, a deep understanding
for the worries of her little folk, and a dreamy romanticism left
their mark particularly on her most difficult children, on her
second daughter Edith and on Cecil The strong and uaconvea-
tional nature and disciplinarian principles of the father,, the soft-
ness and romantic nature of the mother, formed in, these two

[6]

TO AFRICA

children a strange duality of character which was later to ripen
in each into an anomalous personality.

Mother Rhodes was particularly worried about CeciPs frequent
outbursts of uncontrolled temper which seemed strange in a boy
with an otherwise amiable temperament. Not that she minded his
being able to use his fists well on other boys. She was less pleased,
however, when his teacher reported that Cecil, believing himself
to have been punished unjustly, picked up a book to throw at the
master's head. At the last second he must have realized what he was
doing; with a vicious bang he threw it on his desk, muttering
something which might have been either an apology or a curse.

It seemed a great pity to the mother that each of her children
grew up for himself without confiding in the others. Each was
too strong an individuality to harmonize with the other members
of the family. Yet at any threat from the outside they put up a
united front.

The Rhodes boys knew most of the people in the district and
as real boys always managed to ride past certain pkces where
they would be sure to meet young girls. Cecil, however, never
turned after any girl and did not even seem to see them. His
critical remarks were directed rather at the farmlands through
which they rode. "This is a lazy farmer. Look, how untidy his
furrows areP . . . 'This one looks well after his stock. You can
see how healthy his cattle lookP . . * "Lucerne should never be
grown hereP . . .

Cecil never paid much attention to dress. One day he asked
his brother Frank for the loan of his 'best' shirt as he was going
to London. * You can't have it/ Frank replied. *I need it myself for
tonight. 9 Frank knew that if Cecil wanted something, he would
never give up before he obtained it. He watched him all day. Great
was his surprise when on opening his drawer he found his 'best*
shirt gone. When Cecil returned, Frank cornered him immediately:

"Well, Cecil, you won over that shirt of mine; but just tell me
how you did it, for it wasn't on you when you. left here and you
had no parcel with you. What did you do with it?*

Cecil chuckled a little but his reply came coldly: 'I put it on
under the old oneP

Cecil did not shine as a scholar. His father, still hoping that
this one of the 'Seven Angels of the Seven Churches' would take
Holy orders, supervised his progress at the local grammar school.

M

RHODES OF AFRICA

Young Cecil seemed to have been particularly interested in history
and geography. At times he did well in the classics and even gained
a distinction in this subject, whilst one year he brought home
a silver medal, a prize in elocution.

Parents and teachers were once baffled when they found that
thirteen-year-old Cecil had chosen as a motto for the red-plush-
covered souvenir album of a class mate, the words: *To do or to
diel* His teachers and parents probably did not realize that this
precocious thought was not original. It had been taken from a
bombastic poem by the Scottish poet, Thomas Campbell, Pleasures
of Hope, which contained the words: 'Tomorrow let us do or die/

When Cecil finished school in 1869 at the age of sixteen, the
question of his future became acute. His father, eager that the boy
should go either to Oxford or, preferably, to Cambridge, tutored
him in the classics in preparation for the entrance examination.
His future worried the boy. He was convinced that he was not
suited for a career in the Army like his three elder brothers. He
was also sure that he would not be able to fulfil his father's wish
and enter the Church. He thought that he might become a lawyer,
though he realized that it would be a hard struggle to win his
father's consent, knowing his deadly hatred for lawyers and
everything connected with courts of law.

Cecil confided in Aunt Sophy to whom he would have to apply
for financial help in any case. She too would have preferred her
nephew to become a clergyman, a much 'nicer' profession than
that of a lawyer and almost equal in the social scale to that of an
officer. In his dilemma Cecil tried diplomacy, using at die end of
a carefully worded letter as his chief argument the religious issue,
with which, as he must have known, he could easily impress an
elderly English spinster:

I cannot deny for it would only be hypocrisy to say otherwise,
that I still above everything would like to be a barrister; but I agree

with you it is a very precarious profession. Next to that I think
a clergyman's life is the nicest; and therefore I shall most earnestly
try to go to College, because I have fully determined to be one of
these two, and a college education is necessary for both, 1 think
that as a barrister a man may be" just as good a Christian as in any
other profession. . . ,

His future career, however^ was not to be decided by his father,

[8]

TO AFRICA

his aunt or himself. Instead, a swarm of vivid little tubercles in
his lungs were destined to shape the fate of a man, of an Empire
and of a whole continent.

Shortly after he left school Cecil began to aiL The worried"
father took him to a London doctor who advised him to send the
boy as soon as possible away from England's murderous climate
to a sunnier land.

What could be more natural than that Cecil should join his
eldest brother Herbert in Natal where he would surely soon
regain his health with the help of the African sun? Aunt Sophy
with her usual generosity provided the necessary funds for the
voyage and in addition 2,000 to make him as comfortable as, f
possible and help him settle there.

From the time when his parents had bade him farewell at
Gravesend on a hot June day in 1870, he had looked forward to
the day of his arrival in Durban when he would shake hands with
his eldest brother Herbert. Herbert was not there.

Cecil Rhodes looked around but without losing sight of his
luggage. Under his arm he had stuffed a somewhat crushed map
of Africa, Ever since his journey had been decided upon, he had
often studied this map until late at night. During the seventy
days of his voyage the same map had helped him pass the time.
For hours, when he was not busy studying his Greek and Latin
grammars or translating from the classics, he would look at the
two small red spots which marked the only British possessions in
the vastness of the African continent, the Cape Colony and NataL

After a long wait the unhappy boy saw a gentleman coming
towards Mm. He introduced himself as Dr Sutherland, Surveyor-
General of Natal, and a good friend of Herbert's. Herbert had
asked him to look after his young brother, Herbert, he was told,
was away. As a matter of fact Herbert was on an expedition to the
Vaal Kiver to look for diamonds. Herbert, if the truth be told,
had left his cotton plantation in the Umkomaas Valley a few
months earlier in order to join Captain Rolleston who was leading
several other gentlemen of the zoth Infantry Regiment on this
exciting and novel game of discovering hidden riches; Herbert,
to be quite frank, should not be expected back soon; to put it
altogether bluntly, Herbert had not been very successful with his
cotton-growing.

[9]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Df Sutherland took Cecil to his house near Pietermaritfcburg,
the capital of Natal, there to await his brother's return. Mrs
Sutherknd took charge of the shy sickly-looking boy who appeared
much younger than his age. He gave no trouble. All day long he
read, mostly in his school-books, or he leaned over his crushed
map of Africa spread out on the floor.

Dr Sutherland often tried to drag him away from his books.

'What's the use of studying Roman and Greek classics in the
wilds of South Africa, Cecil?*

C I promised my father, sir, to pass the Varsity entrance exam
after I come back/

'What for, Cecil? Stay here in this country of sunshine. . . /

c No, sir, I promised my father to become a clergyman.'

'Then I am sure, Cecil, you'll end as a village parson.'

Only when he heard the clatter of horses' hoofs or the creaking
of a wagon, bringing visitors, did he come down quickly into the
drawing-room. Unobtrusively he would sit in a corner. His
mouth slightly open, his grey-blue eyes sparkling, rubbing his
chin nervously with his forefinger, he would listen to the news
and stories brought by travellers and friends.

No matter how the conversation started, it inevitably turned
to the main point of interest which for two years had not only
seized the whole of South Africa but had been a magnet to
adventurous souls in every part of the world: Diamonds! These
little pieces of crystallized carbon, for which mankind at that
time had no use other than as decorations for women's hands,
ears or necks, or to be encrusted in the crown-jewels of some
potentate; these brilliantly shining volcanic products of the
Earth's womb were to cost the Hves of thousands of innocent
men, to enrich a few and to change the map of a continent.

When one of the first diamonds was discovered among the
paraphernalia of a Native witch-doctor, Sir Richard Southey, the
Lieutenant-Governor, laid it on the Table of the Cape Parliament
with the prophetic words: 'Gentlemen, this is the rock on which
the future success of South Africa wiE be built!*

And to this rock there flocked the human ravens, the eagles,
the vultures, the wolves, the jackals and the moles; they all
assembled along the banks of the Orange atud Vaal rivers where
within a few weeks several thousand men had staked their luck.
Their courage was repaid to only a very few.

TO AFRICA

One of many, Herbert Rhodes soon gave up hope and returned
to his cotton plantation at the end of the year 1870 Cecil met
him there and the two brothers agreed to throw their lot together.
Cecil exercised his right on a free grant of 50 acres. All their
land was densely covered with euphorbia. Before his unsuccessful
diamond adventure Herbert had already cleared 45 of his 200 acres
of this useless thorny bush.

Cecil engaged a gang of Zulus and organized their work.
Within a few months he could proudly show his brother 100
acres ready for cultivation* It was no easy task to work with
these Natives who had not yet had much contact with European
civilization. Before he knew the small luxuries of modern life and
was forced to adopt at least partly European dress, the South
African Native had no use for money. Work was thus no necessity
for him. All work, at home and in the fields, with the exception of
hunting for meat, was done by his women-folk. It called for
special enticement to lure them to the farms, and a good psycho-
logical understanding of their primitive though complicated
mentality to keep them there. Cecil soon found out that many
Natives needed money to pay their hut-tax. He lent them the
money on their promise to work for him. And they never let him
down. 'Kaffirs', he wrote home, 'are really safer than the Bank of
England.*

If a seventeen-year-old boy with no experience of how to treat
people, white or black, who did not know the language and had
been in the country for only a few months, had achieved such
success, it was only natural that settlers even from far away
should come to see this miracle.

But they shook their heads disapprovingly. 'Impossible. You
can't grow cotton in the Umkomaas Valley! ImpossibleP

The Rhodes brothers were not disheartened when the first crop
failed. Carefully Cecil reflected on what might have been the
cause of this sad result. He explained it to Herbert: *One cannot
fight against grubs, boreworms, caterpillars. One has to distract
these little beasts from the cotton by something more attractive
say to grow every eighty feet a bushel or two of mealies* And we
did not calculate how rich this virgin soil really was. Neither did
we realize what luxuriant growth this hot-house-like steamy valley
would produce. We also failed to realize that the rows had been
made much too close to each other thus suffocating the expanding

RHODES OF AFRICA

plants. We will have to double the space between them. To
make good the loss we will have to plant more. To decrease
expenses we will have to use a plough. . . /

Again the old settlers shook their heads. Cecil, once the planting
was done, set about to build for himself and his brother a proper
homestead. Every day he could be seen, wearing nothing but a
shirt and an old pair of trousers more full of holes than patches,
making mud-bricks. Within a few weeks he had finished two huts,
one as a storehouse for future cotton crops and the other to live
in. A new life had begun for him. He explored the neighbourhood
and grew lyrical when reporting home about the mountain ravines
above the valley.

, , . It was one immense natural fernery, and there, hundreds of
feet below us, stretched out the whole valley with our huts looking
like specks, and in the distance hills rising one above the other with
a splendid blue tint on them* . .

Soon he could no longer spare time for such excursions. Again
his ambition to go to Oxford had flared up, and with an eye on
the Natives he bent over his books trying to penetrate the
intricacies of Greek syntax or the refinements of Latin poetry.

The next was a bumper crop. Not only were the losses of the
previous year made good, but the brothers were able to show a
good profit At the agricultural show of the district Cecil's cotton
earned him a second prize of five pounds. When he returned
from the platform after receiving his prisse, he chuckled* jingling
the five golden sovereigns in his trouser pocket and whispered
to his fatherly old friend Dr Sutherland:

*Ahl yes, they told me I couldn't grow cotton! *

Cecil planned to clear many more acres for planting cotton at
the end of the following year but Herbert was bored* He thirsted
for adventure. His gambler's nature could only be satisfied by
high stakes. After long persuasion Cecil agreed to accompany
him on a trip without knowing Ms brother's intentions. In his
casual manner Herbert informed Hm on the way that they were
going up to the northern Transvaal, in the neighbourhood of
Delagoa Bay, There lived a Native chief, Secoconi-, who was said
to own a big bag of diamonds* Herbert's plan was to trade guns
for them. They had bought a few old breech-loaders and Herbert
had even succeeded in getting hold of two brass cannons.

TO AFRICA

Unfortunately for them, the Boers on the Transvaal border kept
a sharp look-out for gun-runners. The two Rhodes boys just
managed to escape after dumping the two cannons in a river.

It was the first of many encounters where a lucrative Rhodes
business proposition was frustrated by the diligence of the Boers
of the Transvaal.

Twenty years later the two cannons were unearthed and
believed to be antique pieces used in earlier times in a Portuguese
fort. When they were proudly brought to a museum in Pretoria
Cecil Rhodes had a good laugh. He was never ashamed to tell this
story of his juvenile adventure apparently quite unaware of its
moral implications. Gun-running in the whole of Africa was
never considered an honest or honourable occupation; and the
two brothers should have known that Secoconi's diamonds must
have been originally stolen by Natives employed in the diamond
river diggings.

After their return from the Transvaal, wherever they went
they heard the wildest rumours about the discovery of enormous
diamond fields on some farms in the Orange Free State, in a
district inhabited by the Griqua tribe and not far from the banks
of the rivers where thousands were still hopefully combing the
sands for diamonds. What was at first believed to be just occasional
small finds had proved to be a real Eldorado. One merely had to
scratch the soil, and pick up diamonds like potatoes on an Irish
farm. When hearing of this dreamland in the spring of 1871,
Herbert Rhodes pranced like a thoroughbred behind the starter's
flag. Off he was on the long trek to the new diamond fields. All
the available money the two brothers could spare he took with
him. Cecil remained in the broiling Umkomaas Valley, preparing
his third cotton crop.

In Dr Sutherland's home he met Captain Rolleston, the great
man of the river washings. He had just returned from the new
diamond-fields and showed them one big and several small
diamonds which he had picked up there on a claim he had bought
for a few pounds. When Cecil felt the coolness of the big stone
a, peculiar feeling took hold of him. He had to swallow several
times. And the great Rolleston talked of three Vhoppers*, one
worth 8,000, another 9,000 and the third 10,000 aad told of the
man who had found the biggest stone: c Yes, this chap offered his
claim for fifteen bob the evening before and no one would buy it/

RHODES OF AFRICA

At night Cecil dreamt of diamonds. Should he not rather give
up the struggle of taming this obstinate African soil in this soul-
killing hot-house climate? He discussed it with Dr Sutherland:

. . . Of course there is a chance of the diamonds turning up trumps;
but I don't count much on them. You see, it is all chance . . . Herbert
may not find one or he may find one of a hundred carats: it is a
toss-up. But the cotton, the more you see of it, the more I am sure
it is a reality. Not a fortune, and not attainable by everyone; but still,
to one who has a good bit of land, money to start it properly, a fair
road and above all a good name amongst the Kaffirs, it gives a very
handsome income. . . .

He had not yet realized that farming in South Africa implicates
a permanent struggle with Nature which disperses her favours
and curses there in extremes. The land is either so dry that plants
and animals fade away as in a desert; or, the next season, it may
be floods which drown everything in their stride. Cecil Rhodes
had to gain this knowledge the hard way. Everything on his
plantation went wrong. After a sluit had dried out, his plants,
through lack of water, died or became an easy prey to all the
pests in the country.

In desperation he confessed to Dr Sutherland: *It really seems
an ill-fated valley. You would be surprised if I told you what a
sink it has been. I believe if one only kept on, it has a capacity
to absorb any amount of capital/

'"""""In October 1871 eighteen-year-old Cecil succumbed to the
lures of the diamonds in the land of the Griquas. He packed his
few belongings into a Scotch cart, drawn by a span of sixteen sleek
hand-picked oxen. The necessary few diggers' tools he strapped
on top of the shaky vehicle. Next to his seat, wrapped in his
travelling plaid, he threw his school-books, the Latin and Greek
classics and a fat tome of a Greek dictionary.

And so the sixteen oxen started their slow trek, pulling the
cart westwards over the blue mountains, actoss the green and
yellow and purple veld, through the greyness of desert-like long
stretches, between red-sWmng kopjes which looked like giant
warts on the sun-bathed landscape, past the mushroom-like
black-roofed white huts of Native kraals, through dark forest
cathedrals built of giant trees, through mud and sand and grass
and stones, taking a young boy to his destiny*

CHAPTER II

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

His rickety table consisted of a tumed-up packing-case. A
rusty bucket served him as a seat. In an empty corner lay
a pile of books topped by a Greek grammar, covered with a fine
yellow sand. On his lap he held open a school-edition of Virgil's
poems. Cecil Rhodes was dreaming or thinking, or, as often
happened, in a state of complete absent-mindedness, his fore-
finger rubbing his chin in gentle rhythm. Even now, in his
nineteenth year, he looked like a schoolboy who had grown too
quickly out of his clothes. South Africa's sun had turned his
former paleness into a healthy ruddy complexion. He wore a pair
of shrunken school cricket trousers on which numerous stains of
reddish-yellow sand, of oil and of rust had resisted several
attempts at washing without soap and with a minimum of water*
The sleeves of his school blazer went only half-way down from
elbow to wrist. In spite of his clothes, with his finely-cut features,
his fair longish hair blown by the wind, he could not but be taken
for what he was: a typical member of the English middle-class.

At first the men around him, the rough adventurers, had tried
to aim their crude jokes at him. Soon they found out their mistake:
this milksop of a boy, this spoilt mother's darling, this sleepy-
eyed whipper-snapper, was a damned fine reg'lar feller who knew
how to dig a claim every bit as well as the oldest digger. And
what he didn't know about diamonds was nobody's business.
Let him stand there with mouth open and eyes half-closed, his
hands deep in his pockets, dreaming away; or let him sit on his
throne of a bucket reading one of those bloody learned books; he
knows just the same what is going on around him. If his Kaffirs
and he has the best of them, all Zulus he brought with him from
Natal stop digging only for a minute, sixty feet below in the
crater hole, if the hauling of the buckets begins to slacken, or the
sifting of the yellow sand becomes slower, up he is and at them,
this bastard of a mite. . . . Even if his fanny voice when he is in
a rage sounds like an old clarinet full of spittle, he can swear in

['Sl

RHODES OF AFRICA

good old English at which any sea-dog would blush like an old
maid on her wedding-night. , . ; And this six-foot specimen of
a booby who looks as if he cannot count up to three, is a damned
good businessman, beating any of the bloody Jew-boys here
hollow when it comes to selling his stones. All these large-
mouthed swells of diamond-merchants who just arrived from
Paris, Amsterdam, and Hamburg and that crowd from London's
Hatton Garden, who think themselves so awfully clever, imagining
that they can pick up bargains here for next to nothing have met
their match in that scraggy, spindle-legged, muzzy-looking son
of a parson. It tickles one pink to see this unlicked cub put the
crooked noses of the big expert swells out of joint. And Master
Cecil seems to run the show on his claims and bosses his two
elder brothers around as if they were his errand-boys. The eldest
one, Herbert, does not care a damn any more about these claims
and Frank you know, the other Rhodes who came out here
recently to help his brothers he does just what Cecil tells him.
Cecil that boy has vim* Let the people kugh at him and his
books; that boy is akeady worth several thousand pounds. . . .

Nobody, in this year of grace 1872, had much time even to
smile in the new township of Kimberley, which, in the form of
thousands of tents, wooden shacks or mere hovels covered with
hessian, had suddenly sprung up on the veld in the territory of
Waterboer, Chief of the Griquas, bordering on the two Boer
republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. More than
ten thousand white men had raced to this deserted spot on the
South African flat plains, where the vast emptiness, covered with
a thick blue carpet of grass after the rains, appeared still more
desolate for the few isolated camelthorn bushes and single mimosa
trees. These men were no longer merely foteign adventurous
have-nots, the down-and-out fortune-lmnters of the River dig-
gings. The diamond fever had seized respectable members of the
English middle-class and with them came the human flotsam and
jetsam of England's big towns: the gamblers, the publicans, the
loafers, the criminals and the pimps. London's ghetto of the
East End spat out its Tuuftmenschen, those who seemed to live in.
and of the air, and all ambitious youngsters who did not want
to spend their lives in the sticky sweatshops of Mile End Road
as their fathers had done before them. It seemed a strange

[16]

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

company: the elegant young men, younger sons of England's
nobility for whom no place could be found in the land of their
fathers, and the big army of broken-down elements who had
come into conflict with die country's laws or unwritten social
tenets.

They all came to the Black Continent with only one wish, one
hope, one aim: to become richl rich! rich! Their minds turned
around one single thought, one single subject, one single idea:
diamonds! diamonds! diamonds!

For diamonds they endured cruel hardships. No matter if the
temperature rose to well over 100 in the day or sank at night
to below freezing-point. Men who were accustomed to have
wholesome meals served by well-trained servants on shining
china plates, sat down dirty to gulp a dish of foul-smelling stew,
cooked by filthy Kaffirs, and served in a rusty tin. A ground-
sheet spread under a sail-plane had taken the place of a spring-
mattress and a thin cotton blanket had to serve as a cover. How
could they wash when a bucket of water cost more than a gallon
of beer in London's most expensive hotel? Only those lucky
ones, who had already struck it rich, could afford a weekly bath
of soda-water, at five shillings a bottle.

Over the whole plain, now called Kimberley, as far as the eye
could see, the thousands of tents looked as if giant mushrooms
had suddenly sprung out of the soil; between them the white-
covered wagons appeared like monstrous caterpillars. The spiders,
Scotch carts, Cape carts, landaus and coaches by which the
fortune-hunters had come hundreds of miles and which now
served many of them as 'homes', seemed, with their shafts pointing
up to the sky, like antediluvian dragons ready to swallow their
next victims with their threatening jaws. Dotted round the camps
lay piles of filthy garbage and the skeletons of horses and mules,
which had just been cleared by Nature's health-inspectors, the
jackals and the vultures. From the other side there penetrated
the stench of the Native kraals. No one had time. Not even the
body of a dead man aroused anybody's interest. Sympathy? No
time here for such sentimentalities. If a man was shot or stabbed
to death in a brawl, murdered or robbed by a Kaffir, it was his
own business. There was a tent which served as a clead-house.
Who cares that the wild dogs and the jackals came at night to
feast on the corpses. Have a quick one with me, brother! . . .

RHODES OF AFRICA

To find self-forgetfulness one could dope oneself by risking
a week's earnings or more on a little roulette-ball or on the
"Devil's Prayer Book'. Women of course were needed for
occasional happiness. Only a few unattached females and not
the youngest, the most beautiful or the most virtuous had dared
to encroach on territory reserved for rough men out to make
money.

In the infernal summer heat you could work for only a few
hours at a stretch. Exhausted, you flung your aching, sweating
body on the ground > burying even your face in the yellow soil
for coolness. You could count yourself lucky if you did not
succumb to the many illnesses in the camp caused by the absence
of the most primitive hygienic precautions, by the bad and scarce
water, the imperfectly canned meat and fish, the absence of
vegetables, the heat and the overcrowded tents. They called it
camp-fever and hundreds went down with it. Today it would
have been diagnosed as dysentery aggravated by malaria.

Nobody complained. They bore their burden patiently driven
on by the thought of diamonds diamonds diamonds

If hope dwindled, there was always at every few hundred yards
a marquee where a strong drink could restore courage. Those
who could not afford anything better took refuge in drowning
their worries in 'Cape Smoke 5 , a strong liquor made of the dregs
of grapes.

Overnight the newly found diamonds had changed the
economic structure of South Africa. Natives left their kraals in
thousands. Before, when they were forced to work on the farms
for a few pence a day, they had to be satisfied with earning a
sheep twice a year and permission to cultivate a small stretch of
land and to graze their cattle or goats. Now the Native had
become a substantial component of an industrial venture and
had to be coaxed to do his part. Tens of thousands of these
Natives were crushed together in camps not far from that of
the diggers.

Diamonds had even affected Nature. Where the veld had only
a few months earlier abounded in game and birds, there were
now only the vultures. The invaders had upset the balance of
nature in the veld by bringing with them in their wagons the
rats, mosquitoes, ticks, mice, fleas and lice as well as a good
assortment of bacteria and germs.

[18]

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

Diamonds had upset South Africa's politics. Before the great
rush nobody was interested in this treeless country. Chief Water-
boer of the Griquashad lived there undisturbed. Only a very few
Boers had settled in his land, and just managed to exist on what
the sandy soil produced. After the first diamonds had been found,
both Boer Republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State*
claimed the territory as their own. The Orange Free State, believing
it had a legal claim to the land, asserted its sovereignty by formal
occupation. Waterboer did not want to fall under the dependency
of either of the Boer Republics. He offered his land to the English
Queen, even after a court of arbitration had decided in his favour.
London, meanwhile, had already learnt from experience that to
rule over African Natives led to many expensive wars. A policy
of non-interference and non-expansion on the African continent
outside Britain's South African possessions had therefore been
adopted. However, pressed by the resident high officials in Cape
Town, Mr Gladstone, Her Majesty's Prime Minister, forgetting
for the time being all his usual finely worded tirades in favour of
Liberalism, pocketed Waterboer's diamondiferous land for
Britain, and proclaimed it as British territory under the name of
Griqualand West. The Orange Free State protested vehemently.
Later Britain paid as compensation the generous sum of 90,000,
an amount which corresponded to one week's output in diamonds
at the time.

To the two Boer governments the change on the very door-
steps of their countries was disquieting. For several decades
since the Great Trek in 1836, when they had escaped from British
rule in the Cape Colony, they had lived peacefully, following a
strict policy of isolation. Now England was pushing forward
menacingly near their borders, upsetting the peace of the veld by
a new kind of civilization and sending as the apostles of a novel
creed the riff-raff of Europe who preached the gospel of quick
wealth and spoilt the primitive African tribes with all the vices
of the White Man. Diamonds had become a factor in British
politics. The Boers had to face a new problem.

When nineteen-year-old Cecil Rhodes joined the fortune-
seekers, his ambition was aimed at earning sufficient money to
go to Oxford. His tenacity of purpose made him overcome all
the difficulties in preparing himself for the University amid the
hubbub of a mining-camp, deprived of all privacy, and while

RHODES OF AFRICA

forced to devote most of his time and the best part of his brain-
power to his digging enterprises.

He was convinced that Oxford could not teach him anything
he really wanted to learn. Not to acquire academic wisdom did
he want to go there. Oxford, he hoped, would stamp him as a
gentleman.

When his friends came to his sorting-table and saw him deeply
buried in his school-books there would be no end to their teasing:

'Going up to Oxford soon, Cecil, to learn how to grow
diamonds?'

c Very true, you chaps/ he replied, 'the educational system of
Oxford seems rather unpractical but look around and everywhere
in England you will find Oxford men on topP

Left alone, he would sit for hours staring at the stones in front
of him. From the beginning he had become aware of the urgent
need to learn thoroughly all he could about diamonds. One had
to become closely acquainted with the many qualities and faults
which regulated the price of a diamond and which depended not
only on its weight but on its size, shape and colour. Diamonds
occur in the finest pastel shades from a deep yellow to a bluish-
white, from a nutty-brown to a light bronze. You may come
across green, blue, pink, bronze yellow, orange and opaque
diamonds. And only twenty-five out of a hundred stones will be
both clear and of a blue-white colour to pass as perfect. One had
to look sharp. The keenest eye often failed to detect a flaw.

Cecil Rhodes was one of the first to use a watchmaker's magnify-
ing glass to judge a diamond. With the glass squeezed in his eye
he was easily able to discern a little black spot or a tiny white
flaw inside a stone which would lower its value considerably*
Sometimes great joy and the highest expectations were aroused
when a perfectly shaped white and glassy stone was found. Only
those familiar with the peculiarities of diamonds would be worried
by the tinge of a smoky brown cloud in one corner of the stone.
'Greeners' would buy such stpnes at low prices or exchange them
against much smaller stones in the belief that they had struck a
bargain. The next day, when they went to look at their great
bargain, all they would find was a fine powder. These stones,
when exposed to the light, would explode internally.

To Cecil Rhodes diamonds were no longer mere pretty stones;
a diamond to him was something above earthly conceptions, an

[20]

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDSI DIAMONDS!

aristocrat produced by Nature. Unconsciously, in Ms letters home,
he always wrote 'Diamonds* with a capital !D*.

He was well informed on everything concerning diamonds.
Old diggers often came to consult him before they sold their
stones. The kopje wallopers^ as the itinerant diamond buyers were
called, knew that they could play no tricks on him. He had
akeady noticed that each of their testing scales showed a different
weight. The slightest slant of the table might cost the seller a
great deal of money. Cecil Rhodes did not trust anybody. He
wrote to his friend, Dr Sutherland, to send him a water-level. The
kopje wallopers shook their heads: C A clever boy, that mesbuggene
longshanksP

From his tent door Cecil Rhodes often looked down into the
chasm of the big holes dug into what was once Colesberg Kopje.
How was it possible that on this small round hill, the size of the
garden at the Vicarage at home not more than 180 yards broad
and 220 yards long some ten thousand people could work every
day? It sounded very grand when one heard that somebody was
the lucky owner of a claim, until one realized that each claim
consisted of only 31 square feet and that in most cases each
claim was split into four. Not even the whole claim was allowed
to be worked. More than 7 feet had to be left as road.

When diggers started to go deeper, differences in the depths
of neighbouring holes soon developed. Reefs collapsed and feE
into the neighbour's ground. Tempers ran high. The roads, well
intended, also soon broke down. Chaos reigned everywhere.
Here everyone thought only for himself and let the devil take the
hindmost.

Cecil Rhodes, his mouth slightly open, his hands deep in his
trouser-pockets, observed each day for hours every phase of
the working process. He knew that this primitive system of
mining was doomed in the near future. In several mines the level
of underground water had akeady been reached.

Something had to be done.

Cecil Rhodes had been more fortunate than many others.
Through his friendship with the 'Red Caps', a group of young
men owning what later became known as the Kimberley Mine,
Herbert was able to peg three whole claims soon after its
discovery. Cecil bought a quarter of a claim from him and he and
two friends were partners in three-quarters of another claim.

[21]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Herbert soon left. Little Cecil would manage the diamond affair
better alone.

And Cecil did make the three claims a complete success. The
one-quarter of a claim which belonged to him alone proved to
yield by far the most. Proudly he wrote to his mother:

... I find on an average 30 carats a week and am working one of
the few whole claims in the kopje; a claim in fact that will take me
4 years to work out at the present rate. Diamonds have only to
continue a fair price and I think Herbert's fortune is made. ... I
average about hundred pounds per week.

The entire letter sounded like the report of a mine manager to
his board of directors, with its cold matter-of-fact description of
diamonds, their peculiarities > shapes, colours, their prices and all
the details of how they are found:

. * * There are reefs all round these Diamond mines inside which
the Diamonds are found. The reef is the usual soil of the country
round, red sand just at the top and then a black and white stony
shale below. . . . Inside the reef is the diamondiferous soil. It works
just like Stilton cheese. . . .

And so it goes on for pages. Not a single intimate note; not a
word of a private nature; no endearment throughout the letter.
It ends like a business communication, simply with <Yrs. C.
Rhodes.'

Mrs Rhodes must have been baffled by her son CeciL The
Vicar, probably, feared for the soul of his son who seemed to
have delivered himself completely to the God Mammon. Was it
a consolation to the reverend gentleman that the elder brother
reported from Kimberley about people's high opinion of Cecil;
that 'he is such an excellent man of business', that 'Cecil was just
the contrary to most young fellows when they set up there and
do well and get so very bumptious . . . that he seems to have done
wonderfully well as regards the diamonds. . . /?

The Vicar would ptobably have been completely downcast if
he had only suspected what had become of Ms son.

Here was a young man, not yet twenty years of age, brought
up in the well-guarded seclusion of a parsonage in a peaceful,
almost dormant, little English rural town, who had suddenly
been flung into the boiling cauldron of quickly made money, to

[22]

Cecil Rhodes'
birthplace at Bishop's
Stortford

Rhodes aged about 17
before he left for Africa

!8S!': -''flit * -^.jpfr.xSlfl _

iiililSy,a^

Dry sorting for diamonds in 1872 before the advent of the Hand Washing Machine
Note the sorting table in the foreground

Left to right: L. S. Jameson, C R Harrison, K C. Selous, A. R. Colquhoun

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

fight, all by himself, with and against the excrement of mankind,
the world's worst crowd of fortune-hunters and parasites.

His mental and apparently also his physical puberty was not
yet completed* Lacking friends, his struggle with his ego made
him retreat into himself. He had to deal exclusively with men
older than himself. He became in turn moody, taciturn, excitable,
impulsive, often even violent.

One of his friends noticed already at that time that 'the duality
of his nature, the contemplative and the executive, had a curious
counterpart in his voice, which broke, when he was excited, into
a sort of falsetto, unusual in a man of his make'.

With people for whom he cared, he could at times be amiable
but very often his effort to impress others became evident.

One day Rhodes had found a big diamond. He invited a few
friends to celebrate with him at a picnic on the Vaal River. After
lunch they all took a dip in the cool river. When Rhodes walked
along the edge of the water over the broad stretch of pebbles, he
suddenly bent down, shouting excitedly:

'Look here, what I just picked up ... a diamond, a first-rater,
bluish-white one ... at least ten carat for which old Unger or
any of his Hebrew brethren will gladly pay forty quid . . . exactly
what this party cost me . . . exactly what this party cost me . . .
Just luck, and, of course, one has to know where one's luck lies
... to know where one's luck lies!'

His friends were sure that Rhodes had dropped the diamond
there earlier.

Girls did not interest him. Frank, anxious to dispel any fears
his parents might have had in that respect, assured them that it
was 'quite a mistake to suppose that there are no nice girls out
here'. They did not seem to exist, however, if they existed at all
in Kimberley, for his brother Cecil.

'I do not believe, if a flock of the most adorable women passed
through the streets, he would go across the road to see them,'
Frank wrote.

Sometimes he could not evade going to dances. Much to the
amusement of his friends he always chose the ugliest girls as
partners. When he was chaffed about his bad taste, Rhodes, his
hands defiantly in his pockets, answered:

'Leave me alone! Dancing is to me just an enjoyable exercise,
and I enjoy it as such . . . just an enjoyable exercise. . . .'

RHODES OF AFRICA

And there followed a shrill falsetto laugh.

Young Cecil had no friends who inspired him spiritually.
Dr Sutherland was the first to encourage him to read but great
talkers are rarely ferocious readers. Rhodes already at that time
found great satisfaction in talking, not in the form of give-and-
take conversation but of almost exclusive monologues. Often
after dinner with his friends* in his tent on Colesberg Kopje,
after a long period of complete silence he would suddenly jump
up and begin to talk. He argued with himself, bringing forth
possible objections that the other side might raise, analysing them
and setting them against his own views. In his 'home', a 1 6-foot
by 1 8-foot structure, made of a flimsy wooden frame and covered
with canvas, but considered luxurious by Kimberley standards at
that time, he messed together with a number of other young men.
There was no furniture in the tent, nor did it offer even the
simplest comfort. Upon entering, the eye immediately fell on the
big slightly crumpled map of the African continent which was
pinned carefully against the canvas wall. Among the young men
he was most attached to quiet, tall, and bearded Charles Dunell
Rudd, nine years his senior, whom he had akeady met in Natal.
They became partners in Kimberley, working a claim together,
the beginning of a lifetime partnership.

Rudd had come out to South Africa for the same reason as
Cecil Rhodes did two years later. His tubercular lungs had cut
short a promising scholarly career at Cambridge. Upon his
arrival in South Africa he had attached himself , to the almost
legendary English lawyer, John Dunn, whom the great Zulu
King, Cetywayo, in gratitude for having acted as his counsellor,
had made a Chief of a Zulu tribe with a present of 10,000 acres of
the best land. Rudd acted for two years as a kind of secretary to
the White Zulu Chief before he came to Kimberley.

Rudd was the very opposite of Rhodes: his quiet, settled,
sharply calculating and amiable nature became a necessary com-
plement to Rhodes* impulsiveness.

Rudd had little personal ambition. Intricate problems or a
difficult situation interested him only as an opportunity for using
his logical mind. Rhodes looked up to him as an ideal combination
of a gentleman, a schokr and a smart business man.

Perhaps still more than to the intellectual heavyweight Rudd,
Rhodes was attracted to the light-hearted wit, universal though

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

superficial worldly wisdom, general knowledge., easy manners
and winning personality of John Xavier Merriman. They had so
much in common in character, their ambitions ran so closely
parallel and their faults were so similar that the course of their
lives offered two possibilities: to become friends or foes. They
tried both and neither made them happy.

Towards the end of the year 1872, Rhodes had become more
restless, more retiring and more abrupt than before. All his friends
had noticed that something must be worrying him. Yet he really
should have had no worries. His claims were yielding considerable
results. His personal fortune was generally estimated at far above
5,000 with ever-increasing revenues.

Dr Sutherland, whom Cecil used as his father confessor, was
most worried that his young friend had lately been complaining
about bad health. He was still more alarmed by a passage in one
of his letters: *. . . I am afraid that life on the Diamond fields has
not tended to strengthen my religious principles.'

Cecil Rhodes was saved from further mental anguish by a book.

Just at that time Darwin had stirred the world of science with
his theory of evolution. Intellectual mountebanks hooked some
of his ideas, adulterated them and coined them into 'popular*
currency. Among the many who used and over-simplified Darwin's
observations as the basis for their philosophical and religious
doctrines was the writer Winwood Reade. Drugged by the
mysticism of Oriental cults he tried in Ms book ^he Martyrdom of
Man to construct a creed of atheism, taking 'Darwinism* as a
basis and making it more palatable with a garnish of pseudo-
scientific phrases and a piquant sauce of mystic second-hand
slogans from drained Mohammedanism, Confucianism and high-
sounding confusing nonsense.

For Rhodes, an innocent boy of twenty, this book solved all
his doubts and scruples: Darwin became his Messiah, Reade his
Apostle, and The Martyrdom of Man his Bible. It was not a passing
phase of an intellectual evolution for him. More than twenty
years later he confessed several times:

... It is a creepy book. I read it the first year I was in Kimberley,
fresh from my father's Parsonage, and you may imagine the impres-
sion which it produced upon me, in such a place as a mining camp.
That book has made me what I am.

RHODES OF AFRICA

The hard work in a strenuous climate, the daily excitement
caused by the vagaries of mining, the nerve-racking business
negotiations, an irregular and insufficient diet, the unaccustomed
consumption of alcoholic drinks, the late hours spent in endless
discussions and in addition his spiritual anguish, lessened the
resistance of a delicate body to the plodding microbes in his
lungs. Cecil Rhodes fell seriously ill.

Herbert at once returned from Natal He recognized immediately
that all the boy needed was to get out as soon as possible from the
dust-bowl of Kimberley. Rudd could look after the claims alone.
The two brothers loaded an ox-wagon and started on a trek
northwards.

Following an old missionary road their way led them leisurely
through drifts over narrow mountain passes, till they came higher
and higher and reached the rarefied and stimulating air of the
High Veld.

This impact on Cecil Rhodes of South Africa's landscape with
its wide open spaces and many contradictions, the free life on the
veld with its mysterious fauna and flora, the excitement of pro viding
the pot with food by the gun filled him for the rest of his life
with a deep love of the veld.

He had become a keen observer. As much as his curiosity was
caught by the new and impressive scenery, so his interest was
aroused in the farmers of the Transvaal, the fabulous Voortrekkers
and their children, who in the years 1836 to 1840 had left the
Cape dissatisfied with British rule. Cecil Rhodes liked their almost
Biblical mode of life, and was amazed every time by the liberal
hospitality which was gladly showered upon complete strangers.
A new world opened up to him. These sturdy slow-moving men
with their heavy vrow and numerous flaxen-haired children spoke
the same language, old Dutch, as had their forefathers, who had
come as settlers to the 'halfway house* of the Dutch East India
Company .at the Cape, in the middle of the seventeenth century.
As the language, their taa/ 9 had changed little in the last two
hundred years, so there remained unchanged their strong Puritan
conviction. Here were people, separated by several days' journey
from their nearest neighbour, self-dependent, rulers over their
thousands of acres, a law unto themselves, who were happy in
their voluntary isolation though deprived of even the simplest
amenities of life. Not only did these people read the Bible twice a

[z6]

DIAMOND-^! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

day but they accepted literally the teachings of Die Goeie
particularly of the Old Testament, as the guide to their lives.

Perhaps Cecil was still suffering from pangs of conscience about
his newly adopted atheism that the natural religiosity of the
Boers made so deep an impression on him.

'Among these people, he thought, it must be good to live.

Once he had finished with diamonds, it would be ideal to retire
to this land, to be near Nature, to forget all about worldly things
and to regain one's health. For a few hundred pounds one could
buy fertile land enough to make any English squire envious.
Cecil Rhodes "bought a farm of 3,000 acres. This ownership
qualified him as a burner of the Transvaal Republic, a fact to
which he was to refer twenty years later.

The two brothers, trekking along the old 'Missionary Road*,
first came to the land of the Bechuanas. Already on their way
north they had- heard much talk about gold-prospecting in the
Transvaal. When they came to the border of Bechuanaland the
rumours about gold turned into fact. An English company had
akeady begun mining in the Tati district beyond the Limpopo
River.

That there was gold in the land beyond the Limpopo Herbert
and Cecil Rhodes did not doubt. They must have recalled the
sensation caused by an article in The Times about discoveries of
rich gold findings in the interior beyond the Limpopo. A German
geologist, Karl Mauch, in 1868, had been sure that he had found
the fabulous Gold of OpKir in the land of the bellicose Matabele
between the lower Zambezi and the Limpopo.

At about the same time two explorers had discovered in that
very district mysterious ruins of ingeniously constructed brick-
buildings and distinct traces of gold-mining activities, dating
back probably to the Phoenicians. There could be no doubt that
the Gold of Ophir came from these mysterious workings in the
middle of darkest Africa.

But the two Rhodes brothers were not prepared for an expedi-
tion into the interior. They could go no further. 'Another timer
Herbert said resignedly. 'Another time/ said Cecil with a sigh,
as he bent over his crumpled map of Africa. He could not know
that this land of the Gold of Ophir would be his and bear his
name within twenty years.

After seven months the brothers returned to Kimberley. Cecil's

RHODES OF AFRICA

health was completely restored* Herbert, too, was much affected
by their long trek. He had made up his mind never to return to
a humdrum life of routine. For Herbert Rhodes the mysterious
antique gold workings in the north had become an obsession.
Without much ado he one day packed his ox- wagon and was off,
northward bound, after he had offered his claims to Cecil. Together
with Rudd, his partner, Cecil thus became owner of three of the
best claims in the Kimberley Mine.

Cecil Rhodes was worried. By 1872, more than 1,600,000
worth of diamonds had been found. In consequence prices were
going down. Buyers nowadays dictated their own prices. They
knew only too well that most of the diggers stood on such weak
legs that they had to sell immediately to keep their claims working.
All buyers wanted only flawless, well-shaped and the best-coloured
stones. Expenses on the other hand had increased considerably.
One had to pay higher wages to the Natives if one wanted good,
strong and sober men. Everybody was convinced that these
rascals stole at least half of the whole production. Supervision
had become very difficult the deeper the mine went. There were
now in Kimberley dozens of shady characters who bought stolen
diamonds from the Natives, paying a mere trifle in the form of
*Cape Smoke*, old guns, beads, uniforms, watches or mouth
organs.

The hauling-system in the mines had to be constantly replaced
or improved. A falling reef, the biggest and an unpredictable
calamity, could wither all one's hopes in the best mine overnight.

All these difficulties had to be overcome before one could make
diamond-digging a sound and permanent business proposition.
Moreover, one could operate successfully only on a wide basis,
unhampered by neighbouring workings. The future lay in
combining as many connected claims as possible. For this reason
Rhodes had entered into partnership with Rudd. Costs had to be
reduced by bigger production. And he had to see to it that he
found claims where not only was the production high but where
the finest quality of stones were yielded. In these respects his
claims in the Kimberley Mine did not satisfy him fully. He could
not complain about the number of diamonds found there, but
very seldom were the stones flawless and pure white,

Rhodes cast his eyes on De Beers Mine, also originally owned
by the 'Red Caps'. He had carefully, though unobtrusively,

[28]

DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!

studied its production. There the diamonds were perhaps a little
less in number but most of them were of great purity, big and of
regular shape.

He began to buy claims in De Beers Mine. * A nice little mine*,
he called what was to become the world's richest diamond
mine.

In the short time of his activities on the diamond fields Rhodes
had seen many a man fall from the height of prosperity down to
complete poverty, merely by adverse conditions and through no
fault of his own. Rhodes learnt from such examples. He did not
want to stake his entire future on one card. The 3,ooo-acre farm
he had bought in the Transvaal he considered as a nest-egg. But
he also wanted to have a secure income. He became aware that in
the terrific heat everyone was complaining about the lack of cool
drinks. All clamoured for ice.

Rhodes had seen an ice-machine advertised in a Durban news-
paper. Together with Rudd he bought it. Unfortunately that year
it happened to be an exceptionally cool summer and the demand
for ice was minimal. The next summer-season, however, brought
a large enough turnover to recover the entire costs and to make
a profit of 1*500 each.

Since the ice-business proved to be after all a gamble with the
weather Rhodes gave it up, glad to have come out with a good
profit. This money, he decided, he would not invest entirely on
the diamond-fields. Some of it he would use for a secure invest-
ment. He wanted something absolutely safe, and chose an old-
established railway-line connecting Durban's harbour with the
town.

It was Rhodes* first deal in shares and it was symptomatic that
he used his first free small capital to buy railway shares, since
his later big financial schemes were mostly based on his belief
in railways as a safe and lucrative investment.

Through his acquisition of several prominent claims in De
Beers, people in Kimberley began to consider him as a potential
factor on the diamond-market.

When his old friends, whose luck had limped far behind his
own, joked about his preoccupation of late with big financial
schemes, the amounts of which made them dizzy, he burst out
angrily:

*I dare say you think I am keen about money. I assure you I

RHODES OF AFRICA

wouldn't care a damn, if I lost all I have tomorrow. It's the game
I like . . . it's the game I like . . . the game I like!'

He had attained his aim: he now possessed the necessary funds
to go to Oxford fully independent. He had passed successfully
through the 'University of Life' at Kimberley. Now he was ready
for another University: to become an English gentleman.

Towards the middle of 1873 Rhodes embarked for England.
In his waistcoat-pocket he carried loosely a few diamonds.
Nobody on board would have believed that this tall, red-faced,
slim young man was the owner of several rich diamond claims
whose fortune was known to be not far from .10,000. His worn-
out clothes, stained and threadbare, did not give any indication
of such wealth. His only pair of trousers the sail-maker of the ship
had to patch up with a piece of canvas.

In October of the same year Rhodes passed the entrance
examination of Oxford University.

His mother was still able to enjoy the return of her fourth son
and his success in the examination. Shortly afterwards, tired,
quiet and long-suffering Louisa Rhodes, a devout wife, a good
mother and a patient woman, closed her eyes forever.

[30]

CHAPTER III

'THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE 9

REAT was the influence of Oxford over Cecil Rhodes. He
\J first spent a year there, until 1874, when ill-health made
his return to Kimberley necessary. Difficulties on the diamond
market, changes in mining conditions, but especially the kck of
sufficient funds prevented him from continuing his studies until
1876. Then for two years he kept all terms at Oxford though he
spent the long vacation in Kimberley.

Rhodes, encouraged by his father, tried to enter University
College, famed for its high standard of scholarship. But in spite
of his intense cramming at Kimberley his Latin prose was not
considered good enough. He had better luck at Oriel College
where he was admitted as a 'passman'.

Rhodes entered Oxford with the intention of preparing himself
for a profession. His father had not yet given up hope that he
would enter the Church. During his first term at Oxford Cecil
wrote a letter to his friend Dr Sutherland in a style on which no
beneficial academic influence is as yet noticeable:

Whether I become the village parson which you sometimes
imagined me as, remains to be proved. I am afraid my constitution
received rather too much of what they call the lust of the flesh at
the Diamond Fields to render that result possible. * . .

His brother Frank had returned to England with Cecil to enter
a crack cavalry regiment as lieutenant. Another brother had also
entered the Army, as an officer in the Engineers. *. . . Whether
I shall follow their example remains to be proved/

When conditions in Kimberley had changed and Rhodes had
to fight an uphill battle to retain the position which he had gained
on the diamond-fields, he wanted to secure his future.

He had tasted of the sweet drug of making money. He had
imagined himself on the safe way to wealth, independence and
security. Now, away from Kimberley, he feared all the more the
possibility of gliding back into anonymous impecuniosity. This

RHODES OF AFRICA

fear of poverty became a nightmare. It impeded his clear thinking.
It influenced his decisions. To such proportions did it grow that
he confessed to Rudd in a letter in 1876:

. . . On a calm review of the preceding year I find that 3,000
had been lost, because owing to my having no profession I lacked
pluck on three occasions, through fearing that one might lose; and
I had nothing to fall back on in the shape of a profession. ... I am
slightly too cautious now. . . . By all means try and spare me for two
years; you will find I shall be twice as good a speculator with a
profession at my back. . .

He was now resolved to become a barrister. Soon, however,
he was forced to realize that it was very difficult, if not impossible,
to combine studies at a university with conducting financial and
mining affairs from a distance of 7,000 miles, especially at a time
of economic world-crisis and a slump on the diamond market.

Rudd, quiet, ever-unperturbed Rudd, seemed to have been
infected with the jitters just like everybody else in Kimberley. . . .
One had to buck him up with strong regular doses of one's own
optimism in the guise of conviction that diamonds are bound
to rally. . . . One knows for certain that improved methods for
finding diamonds will defeat every fall in diamonds within the
next two years. . . . One has to warn panicking Rudd not to
sacrifice claims because of bad times. . . . And one has to stress
in every letter that he should accumulate c the ready* . . . and that
now when everybody is willing to sell at any price, is the time to
acquire some new claims as bargains. . . .

One does everything in one's power to help poor Rudd. . . .
Not nice for one to wake up at night sweating like a pig fancying
oneself meeting various little bits of paper, called promissory
notes, with one's blessed signature at the bottom* . . . Less
pleasant in bright daylight to find otieself with not a blinking
sixpence in one's pocket. . . . Impossible to bother one's father
going a-begging. . . . Very unpleasant being under an obligation
to anyone. . . . One had to swallow one's pride and touch old
Rudd's brother for a few quid. . . . Why are people in England
so blastedly suspicious? . . The blighters even charge four per
cent for drafts. . . .

One should really have two heads since only one on one's
neck is not enough if one has to study Aristotle's Ethics, read

'THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE*

Gibbon's Decline and Fa/I, learn the Thirty-nine Articles and at
the same time escape to London and try to persuade oily Levantines
in Hatton Garden, where these bastards hold their exchange on
the street or in filthy little tea-rooms try to persuade them to
buy a parcel of stones at a decent price. . . . Or one has to waste
hours when ordering machinery to explain to idiotic 'experts'
about special winding-drums, clutch-gears, pump spare-parts,
engine-valves, steel-cables all mining requisites. . . . And one
has to fight them tooth and nail when they cut you short with
their perpetual Impossible 9 ! . . . One was also once told one
couldn't grow cotton in Natal! . . . And one has to have both
eyes wide open, not only so that one doesn't fall asleep over
Marcus Aurelius' Meditations^ but also to keep on the look-out
for making a few quid on the side. . . .

One has to struggle through somehow. . . . One's character
was so battered about at the diamond-fields that one likes to
preserve the few remnants. . . . One has to work. . . . Had one
not as a little boy picked as one's motto: *To do or to die'? . .

Cecil Rhodes had 'sent himself up to Oxford', as he liked to
put it, not only for the purpose of studying. His training to
become an 'English Gentleman' he must have considered of
equal importance. His boyish shyness had not left him and had
with the advancing years turned him into a gauche, inhibited,
and complex personality. A physical defect, small as it was, caused
Mm constant embarrassment. The little finger of his right hand
was bent at the middle knuckle and could not be straightened.
*He always hid it and later became very nervous if he noticed
someone looking at his hands. He always kept the third and little
finger doubled up when shaking hands.

A parallel is brought to mind in the withered left arm of another
man, an emperor and a contemporary of Rhodes, whose crippled
limb was largely responsible for the course of history between
the years 1888 and 1918.

Rhodes probably also suffered under his delicate and youthful
appearance which gave the impression of a rather effeminate
schoolboy. It led to a defensive aggressiveness, the forceful adop-
tion of rough manners and coarse language by which he wanted
to show the tough Kimberley diggers that he was their fcqual.

His successes on the diamond-fields had made him a young
man of means and an important though still small power on the

[33]

RHODES OF AFRICA

diamond market. This prominence, however, was restricted to
his capacity as a business-man. His private intercourse brought
him into contact with the English nobility even if their coat
of arms were slightly smudged with Oxford and Cambridge
men, with former Public School boys and ex-army officers with
all those who belonged by birth, education or profession to the
category of 'Gentlemen'. Though they mixed with everyone in
Kimberley in the course of business and did not mind an occasional
drinking bout with 'those fellows' for the sake of a lucrative
transaction, they kept strictly to themselves. Rhodes was admitted
to their circle, since his three brothers in the Army raised him
almost to their caste. But he was well aware that he was only
tolerated and he was intelligent enough to realize his social
limitations and what a handicap his lack of polish was likely to
be in the future.

When he came to Oxford he encountered that same phalanx
of Gentlemen against which he had run up in Kimberley. After
a short trial he gave up living in his College: 'Nasty, abominable,
beastly food pig-swill*, he called the dinners served in its Hall.
He thus preferred, also because it gave greater liberty, to take
private lodgings, a small suite of rooms in the High.

There he met a number of other young men who became his
companions for the next few years. Among them figured two
lords, some younger sons of titled families and scions of the
English gentry. These Oxford friends, with a few exceptions, did
not strive for academic distinction. They were more interested
in good living, congenial company and having their fun. Yet of
this small crowd of young bon-vivants one became a judge,
another an eminent historian and two, R. Rochfort Maguire, later
a prominent scholar, and Charles Metcalfe, a man of many talents,
became intimate collaborators of Rhodes.

Rhodes, having grown up unguided, unrestricted and unspoilt
during the most important stage of a boy's development, had
remained at heart an enthusiastic schoolboy. His new friends,
brought up in the traditional way prescribed for young gentlemen,
much younger in years than Rhodes, believed that their new
dignity as Oxford undergraduates called for concealment of their
discomfort amid the new surroundings. They aped their elders
by putting on airs of sophistication.

This affected smugness Rhodes took as a barrier behind which

[34]

'THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE*

the 'Gentlemen* had entrenched themselves against outsiders and
he felt that it was up to his social abilities to ride It down and be
accepted as an equal.

He first tried to impress them by tales of his adventures on the
veld. They scarcely listened. If he had told them that he had scored
a century at Lords, ridden the winner at Liverpool lost a fortune
at baccara at Brooks's, had supper with a 'Gaiety' chorus girl or
at least climbed the Grand Tour over all the college roofs, they
would have been interested. Only Charles Metcalfe roused him-
self from his lethargy; he opened his eyes, relit the cigar hanging
from the corner of his mouth. He listened attentively.

Later Rhodes remarked to another friend: 'Do you know, one
really can think Metcalfe honestly believed those stories were trueF

Rhodes tried other methods by which to impress his new
friends. He boasted about his great business prospects and
occasionally threw on the table several diamonds which he carried
loose in his waistcoat pocket. 'Vulgarl' was the general opinion
and an icy silence the response.

Money could not impress these young English gentlemen. One
had either money, or at least credit, but one did not speak about
such matters. Money did not affect one's status as a gentleman.

Rhodes now went over to displaying the cynicism of a rough
and tough adventurer who enjoyed himself by shocking his
audience with his views on life, his low esteem of mankind, his
irreligious thoughts, all expressed in the coarsest language.

His friends were just bored. He began to work rather heavily
on their nerves with his continual efforts to entangle them in
arguments on political, historical or philosophical questions which
had just crossed his mind or an idea which he had come across
while reading. He would nettle them by storming into their
common sitting-room where they were just discussing the
prospects for the next day's races at Ascot and spluttering
excitedly, fall into a falsetto:

'I have found in Aristotle the meaning of life virtue. He says
virtue is the highest activity of the soul living for the highest
object in a perfect life. Now, you fellows, who among you could
deny. . . ,*

And he would go on and on, labouring hard to clarify his own
thoughts while speaking, searching for the explanation, the
solution, the answer to the problem by which Ms hard but

[353

RHODES OF AFRICA

slow-working brain was haunted. These monologues became
Rhodes' habitual way of working out decisions. But his friends
were neither willing to discuss, nor interested in listening to any
such questions.

They could not know that an upheaval had taken place in the
mind of this twenty-three-year-old man which for the last six
years had been filled with the realistic facts of money-making in
its crudest form and was now, badly prepared, suddenly con-
fronted with the highest cultural goods of humanity.

Rhodes had to confess that the making of a gentleman needed
the same patience and regular training as that of being a student.
He found that there existed several clubs and societies in Oxford,
through the membership of which one could acquire all those
social qualities which he lacked. He joined the Bullingdon Club
to which belonged the smart set of undergraduates. There one
saw to the correctness in manners, dress and thought but also,
at regular banquets, to the enjoyment of excellent food, the best
wines and everything else that was expensive. He also became
a member of the Vincent Club and was shortly afterwards
admitted as a Freemason to the University Lodge.

It is usual to celebrate the initiation of a new Mason by a
banquet. Was it the wine or the deep impression which the
romantic symbolism of the *Royal Art* made on him, that he
nonchalantly disclosed the secrets of Masonry when not more
than an hour before he had sworn a solemn oath never to reveal
them? The Brethren were flabbergasted. The chairman intervened
and reprimanded him severely.

Strolling along the High, or walking through the college parks,
certainly in the dining-room of the Mitre Hotel, Rhodes must
have often come across another undergraduate, a massive-looking
six-footer, immaculately dressed according to the latest fashion.
Everyone at Oxford knew him, at least by reputation, as the
brilliant Irishman, Oscar Wilde. Cecil Rhodes would have met
him several times at banquets of the Bullingdon Club but there
is no record of any direct personal contact between the two. It
may be assumed that Rhodes would not have been very interested
in a young, healthy man who wrote poetry. At one time, at least,
he expressed his opinion of such an occupation when a friend
told him that he aspired to become a writer.

'Shouldn't do that. It is not a man's work mere loafing.'

[36]

*THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE'

As different as were Rhodes and Wilde in every respect, they
concurred for a short time in their great veneration of one man:
John Ruskin. Together with hundreds of other students they
crowded the Sheldonian Theatre, the biggest hall of the University,
to listen to this strange middle-aged man with the piercing large
blue eyes delivering his fanatical sermons on the beauty of
Italian Art.

In the fortieth year of his life, at the same time as a bearded
German refugee was sitting in the Reading Room of the British
Museum working on his book Das Kapital> Ruskin, the hot-
house-reared genius, discovered the existence of poverty, dirt and
misery among England's underprivileged class. He detected the
evils brought about by mechanization and found the cause of
the rottenness of modern society in the existing economic system,

In the afternoons, when the students hurried from their colleges
through the High to the playing-fields, they were stopped by
Ruskin, who lectured to them how wrong it was that England's
elite should waste its energy as gladiators. They should learn to
honour the sanctity of manual work. They should with their
own hands contribute to improving the miserable conditions of
this world. There was a road badly needed through the swamps
near the village of Hinksey.

Out went the Professor, in cap and gown, with his disciples.
He gave them picks and shovels, wheelbarrows and heavy rollers.
They broke stones, waded through mud, carried heavy rocks.
Ruskin did not spare himself in setting an example. It did not
matter to him that the road turned out rather crooked, and was
not level except on a stnall stretch done by his gardener. Neither
did it worry him that the work was abruptly given up after two
months with only a few hundred yards completed. He left for
Venice; it was the end of the experiment. A cynic like Oscar
Wilde had, of course, never believed in it, but Cecil Rhodes,
though unable through his illness to take part in the ethical
carnival, listened to the 'Gospel of Labour* with great interest.
Here was a man who had pronounced something which had
occupied his own mind since his boyhood; { To do or to die/
The slogan struck a chord within him which was soon to grow
into loud fanfares.

The man who had started as the standard-bearer of refined
aestheticism and later became the prophet of a Utopian socialism

[37]

RHODES OF AFRICA

also supplied the philosophic jumping-board from which Cecil
Rhodes was to plunge into the African continent to paint its map
ted with the red colour of Britain and the blood of thousands.

John Ruskin in his inaugural address to the students of Oxford
proclaimed the gospel of British Imperialism:

There is a destiny now possible for us, the highest ever set before
a nation to be accepted or refused. We are still undegenerate in race;
a race mingled of the best northern blood. We are not yet dissolute
in temper, but have still the firmness to govern and the grace to
obey. . . . Will you youths of England make your country again a
royal throne of kings; a sceptred isle, for all the world a source of
light, a centre of peace; mistress of learning and of the Arts, faithful
guardian of time-tried principles, under temptation from fond
experiments and licentious desires; and amidst the cruel and clamorous
jealousies of the nations; worshipped in her strange valour, of good-
will towards men? . . . This is what England must either do, or
perish; she must found colonies as fast and as far as she is able,
formed of her most energetic and worthiest men; seizing every piece
of fruitful waste ground she can set her foot on, and there teaching
these her colonists that their chief "virtue is to be fidelity to their
country, and that their first aim is to be to advance the power of
England by land and sea: and that, though they live on a distant
plot of ground, they are no more to consider themselves therefore
disfranchised from their native land than the sailors of her fleet do,
because they float on distant seas. ... If we can get men, for little
pay, to cast themselves against cannon-mouths for love of England,
we may find men also who will plough and sow for her, who will
behave kindly and righteously for her, who will bring up their
children to love her, and who will gladden themselves in the bright-
ness of her glory, more than in all the light of tropical skies. . . . You
think that an impossible ideal? Be it so; refuse to accept it, if you will;
but see that you form your own in its stead. All that I ask of you is
to have a fixed purpose of some kind for your country and for
yourselves, no matter how restricted, so that it be fixed and unselfish.

It was the language of imperialism to intoxicate the youth with
the idea of belonging to a master-race destined to save the world.

In Rhodes this language fell on fertile ground. He had been
waiting for just such a lead. Here was his gospel. He was resolved
to become its( apostle and like Paul to go into foreign lands and
preach it to the heathen.

[38]

THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE 7

He did not stand alone in his feverish dreams. The first wave
of Jingoism was soon to break over the British Isles* Drunk with
patriotism, cold-blooded, ever peace-loving, placid Englishmen
roared with hoarse voices in 1 878, demanding British intervention
in the Russo-Turkish War:

We don't want to fight; but, by Jingo, if we do,

We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too.

It was all the work of that most un-English of British statesmen,
Disraeli, first Earl of Beaconsfield, leader of England's Tories,
Her Britannic Majesty 's Prime Minister and intimate friend and
counsellor.

This dandified statesman had awakened the British lion so that
its fierce roar echoed over all Europe and penetrated even into
the wilds of Africa from the Suez Canal which he brought under-
British control at a bargain price to Zululand and the Transvaal.

Cecil Rhodes followed all political developments closely.
Much depended, he felt, on a quick recovery of the world from
its prevalent economic depression. A luxury industry, such as
diamonds, had been particularly affected. Rhodes regularly sent to
Rudd in Kimberley detailed information about the political
situation. In Lord Beaconsfield's Government he had great
confidence though the pace of the British lion seemed to him still
too slow.

As was his wont when an idea revolved in his mind, he had
to talk about it. For several weeks his friends had to listen to
Rhodes' monologues on British politics, what Lord Beaconsfield
should have done, what he did do, and what he had omitted to
do. *Why don't you write and tell him?* one of his bored friends
teased him.

'That's just what I am going to do/

So Rhodes sat down in all seriousness and together with five
friends, who treated the matter rather as a joke, wrote a letter to
the Right Honourable Gentleman, Her Majesty's Prime Minister,
full of wise advice on how to run the British Empire.

Lord Beaconsfield forestalled even Rhodes' boldest dreams and
hopes: he knew that the British lion had to do more than roar
to gain the world's respect. Down came the lion's claws in South
Africa.

Lately gold had been found in several places in the Transvaal.

[39]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Already In The Times of 19 January 1874 a long letter from one
David Leslie was published, in which he wrote that in the
'Transvaal, a petty Dutch Boer State established upon Native
territory", gold had been discovered. On the same page Messrs.
Mercer & Co., Merchants of Leadenhall Street in the City of
London, 'begged to announce to their business-friends the
arrival of a nugget of pure gold, weighing 18 ounces', which had
been found at Lydenburg, in the Transvaal Republic.

The British Government bore these facts in mind during the
years that followed. According to a report from Cape Town there
was *no reason to doubt that, if England declined to interfere,
Germany would be induced to undertake the protection of the
Transvaal, which would have added infinitely to our troubles in
Africa'.

Britain thus simply annexed the Transvaal. Lord Beaconsfield,
with his combined sense of the cunning statesman, the theatrical
romantic and the flattering courtier, presented the Transvaal to
his 'Faerie Queene' as a birthday present in 1877.

He was proud of the fact that the occupation of this country, in
size twice as big as Britain, was made without great cost to the
British tax-payer, by a detachment of twenty-five mounted police.
Yet he was wise enough to conceal the strange means employed. He
had been prompted into action by the false reports of his subordi-
nates that the Transvaal was threatened to be overrun by Natives
and that the Boers themselves wanted to come under the rule of
Queen Victoria, It was true that the Boers in the Transvaal were
at war with a Native tribe. This was nothing extraordinary to
these frontiersmen. But their country, because of the great war
expenses, and the small and slow incoming taxes, through internal
political intrigues and long droughts, was labouring under in-
surmountable difficulties and was actually facing bankruptcy.
The British Government, under the pretence of neighbourly friend-
ship and for reasons of general security in South Africa against
tribal aggressors, sent a Commissioner to Pretoria with a small
contingent of mounted police. The Boers believed that the British
wanted to help them overcome their difficulties. Through bribes
and corruption within the highest quarters the British delegate
met no resistance when he hoisted the Union Jack in Pretoria's
Government Building on the Queen's birthday, 24 May 1877.

Lord Beaconsfield, in such matters, relied on the experts of the

[40]

*THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE*

Colonial Office. They had supplied him with the reports from the
British Governor of the Cape Colony, urging the necessity of
bringing the Transvaal under British sovereignty. The British
officials in Cape Town had not forgotten that forty years before,
the Boers of the Transvaal had preferred to go on the Great Trek
to an uncertain destiny to staying in the Cape under the secure and
civilized conditions of British rule.

Misunderstanding totally the motives of these gallant men, the
short-sighted red-taped Colonial bureaucrats believed that the
abolition of slavery had been the main reason for their exodus. In
their political narrow-mindedness, with their proverbial lack of
psychological understanding and their traditional incompetence
in dealing with non-English-speaking peoples, the Cape officials
searched only for materialistic reasons. They could not or would
not realize that there had been other, imponderable reasons, an
inborn urge for individual freedom born out of their strict
Calvinistic religiosity, an almost feudal system of political in-
dependence which clashed with English Liberalism, with British
power-politics and with English contempt for everything non-
British, Not all Englishmen accepted in silence the rape of the
Transvaal. Gladstone, the Grand Old Man of England, had already
given warning to keep our hands off South Africa, 'the one great
unsolved and perhaps insoluble problem of our colonial system',
where nothing but confusion and embarrassment could be
expected. The old man's conscience was aroused by England's
blundering crime of the annexation of the Transvaal *by means
dishonourable to the character of our country*.

In Parliament there rose the tall figure of Birmingham's popular
Mayor, Mr Joseph Chamberlain, a new-comer to the 'gentleman's
debating club' of Westminster. A slight quivering of his longish
straight nose betrayed his indignation though otherwise his
ascetic pale face gave the impression of perfect calm. He screwed
his monocle into his right eye, stretched himself to the full height
of his six feet and without raising his voice told the Government
that he considered the annexation of the Transvaal *an act df
force, fraud and folly . * . the consequence of false information
supplied to the British Government'.

The English public generally was not much interested in the
new acquisition to their Empire, of stretches of useless land some-
where in Africa, thousands of miles away from home, inhabited

RHODES OF AFRICA

mostly by black savages and a handful of half-civilized strange
white 'foreigners'. But the well-fed city merchants, the worrying
owners of cotton-mills in the Midlands, the'steel-manufacturers and
exporters, the ship-owners and coal-mine magnates, saw in the
news from Africa a bright ray of hope penetrating the darkness of
the business depression which had started in 1 873 and seemed now
in its sixth year to have reached its climax. They had had to watch
with folded hands, powerless to stop it, how British capital was
leaving the country to help build up new industries in Europe and
railway constructions in North America. With envy they saw how
the United States had quickly recovered from the Civil War and
with deep alarm they noticed there the increasing competition
growing up in the cotton trade. England's wealth which had
always provided the world with manufactured goods was menaced
by the industrialization of Europe which could now not only
satisfy her own requirements but supply export markets, a former
British monopoly. Germany particularly had lately invaded the
export field as a serious rival to England. She delivered the goods
at lower prices and supplied them as the customer required them.
German industry and trade was challenging England's monopo-
listic world position.

Now Africa would provide new and big markets. With this
hope the patriotism of England's industrialists rose to fever pitch.
Imperialism always paid high dividends, as they knew. And
presently the English masses, ignorant and innocent, began to
wave the Union Jack with equal fanaticism. The British Lion had
recovered at least in Africa.

Thus the eyes of the British were now focused on Africa. With
great interest the news was received that the land of the diamonds,
Chief Waterboer's country Griqualand, which had been claimed
by both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, had now also
become British territory by its official annexation to the Cape
Colony. Only a very few, however, realized at the time the real
importance of the acquisition of this territory, which opened for
Great Britain the way to the interior of Africa.

This corridor into the heart of Africa rose in value when the
result of Stanley's journey through the Dark Continent became
known. The imagination of even the most placid Englishman was
fanned into a state of excitement, when for two years he read in
the Daily Telegraph Stanley's hair-raising letters about his exploits.

[42]

'THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE'

Stanley's dispatches were swallowed with perhaps even greater
interest than they aroused in the English readers of the Daily
Telegraph by the statesmen in most European capitals* In Berlin's
Wilhelmstrasse Prince Bismarck bent his 230 ib. over the map of
Africa. On the Quai d'Orsay in Paris General MacMahon pointed
excitedly to places on an African map lying in front of him on a
flimsy gilt Louis XV chair. In the palace of Laeken King Leopold
of the Belgians stroked his silky greying beard, looked at the map
of Africa and told his aides-de-camp: 'Privately I can assure you of
my conviction that nations which renounce ambition are nations
without a future. A people which is content with its homeland,
and which dreads even the shadow of a conflict, lacks the charac-
teristics of a superior race/

In Lisbon, in Madrid, in Vienna, in Stamboul, diplomats
conferred for hours with statesmen, and statesmen with monarchs.
The scramble for Africa had begun!

Only in London's Whitehall all was quiet. It required more
than what they called the uncontrolled scribbling^ of a penny-a-
liner, to bring into motion an English Civil Servant or to fire the
imagination of the honourable members in the Gothic building at
Westminster. One man alone in Parliament had shown foresight:
for Gladstone every political question became an academic problem
which released from him beautiful though lengthy oratory in the
best classical style.

His unbending ideal of Liberalism caused him to oppose
colonial imperialism. But in the results of Stanley's African
explorations he foresaw the opening of the African interior and
he perceived possibilities already in 1877 to which Bismarck later
always referred as 'the Gladstone Prophecy':

Our first site in Egypt, be it by krceny or be it by emption, will
be the most certain egg of a North African Empire that will grow
and grow . . . till we finally join hands across the equator with Natal
and the Cape Colony, to say nothing of the Transvaal and the
Orange River on the South, or of Abyssinia and Zanzibar to be
swallowed by way of viaticum on our journey.

It was left finally to a scientist, Sir Rutherford Alcock, President
of the Royal Geographical Society, to formulate the romantic
ideas of the dreamers, the vague propaganda platitudes of the

[43]

RHODES OF AFRICA

politicians and the dry matter-of-fact official reports into firmly
described and realistic demands:

Whether giant strides made in the last few years by geographical
discoveries . . . (are) to be followed by equally vast and rapid changes
in the conditions of Central Africa and the whole continent from
Egypt to the Cape depends * . . upon the means which individuals
and governments may bring to bear. It is mainly a question of
money and employment of capital. ... I can only express the hope
that Great Britain, so long in the foremost rank, will not be the last
on the muster roll of those countries which are destined to bring
the African race, the inexhaustible wealth of their fertile soil, their
mineral products and free labour, within the circle of modern
civilization. . . *

Making practicable roads is undoubtedly the first and indispensable
condition of all progress in Africa. The bullock wagon and steam-
boat will do the rest until the time comes, and it cannot be far distant,
for the rail and telegraph to complete the work.

Another scientist. Sir Edwin Arnold, who was also a poet, took
the ideas of Gladstone and Alcock and saw the future possibilities
of Britain on African soil as an uninterrupted line of British
possessions from the North to the South, expressed in the catching
phrase 'From Cape to Cairo!'

Cecil Rhodes, deeply immersed in his studies at Oxford in the
summer of 1878, in preparation for the examinations terminating
his second year, was frequently observed to sit absent-mindedly
at his book-covered table, his mouth slightly open and dreamily
stroking his chin with his right forefinger. He had recently turned
quiet and silent and kept much to himself.

Often he could be seen standing in his room in front of a
crumpled map of Africa, the Daily Telegraph with Stanley's
articles in his hand, and staring for hours at the vast mostly
unmapped stretches of that mysterious continent,

He became still more taciturn.

When he left Oxford for Kimberley in the autumn of 1 878 there
whirled in his mind the impressions gained during these two
Oxford years: Aristotle's Ethics had attracted him; from Marcus
Aurelius the philosophizing Emperor's Meditations he believed
to have been imbued with the foundations of a practical philosophy;
Gibbon's great work on the decay of the Roman Empire had

[44]

THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN A PERFECT LIFE'

taught him the frailty of political power; Plutarch's portraits
filled him with enthusiasm for *men of action'; he worshipped
with Carlyle all the heroes of this historian; he had read Loyola's
writings with growing interest and regarded the Jesuits as an
admirable organization.

He had not been attracted by any novels. Dickens* works were
recommended to him as necessary for his education. He energeti-
cally shook his head: No one is not interested in the class of
people Dickens wrote about not interested not interested/

More than anything that he had studied, there worked on his
mind the heroic deeds of Stanley in Africa, Beaconsfield's suave
oratory on the destiny of the British Empire and above all his
master-stroke in seizing the Transvaal.

But overruling all his thoughts there hammered in his crowded
brain day and night the words of Gladstone:

. . . finally join hands across the equator with Natal and the Cape
Colony.

The c Cape to Cairo* idea had captivated him.

[45]

CHAPTER IV

GOD'S CHOSEN PAINTER

WITH quick nervous steps he paced the room, The red dust
which had filtered through a chink in the door, through
cracks in the wooden walls or through the ill-fitting corrugated-
iron roof of the spacious though simple four-roomed wooden
house, grated under his heavy boots. Now and then he would
rush to the small window.

'If only the pumps are still working!' It sounded like a sigh.
Or a prayer.

A tremble shook the whole structure of the house.

"Reefs falling in again. ... If only not at De Beers.'

He sat down at the table, his right forefinger caressing his
chin. Wild thoughts^ incoherent thoughts, flashed through his
mind.

Would these ghosts appear again and frighten the marrow
out of one's bones? One had seen these ghosts! Why else should
one barricade the doors and windows with all the furniture in
the room?

That friends, as they said later, had found one's body on the
floor in what they liked to call a dead faint nervous exhaustion
due to excitement did not mean a thing. They should not have
called a doctor. What did these doctors these quacks, know?
What nonsense to babble about a leaking heart it was a serious
coronary attack. These doctors are ridiculous . . . are ridiculous
with their quick diagnosis it's no more than guesswork. The
old London doctor who had sent one to Africa was of the same
type. When one wanted to visit him again last year he was already
under the ground. Too funny when his successor showed one an
entry in the old man's journal of 1869; 'Has only six months to
live'! . . . Too funny ... six months to live and one still lives in
the year of grace 1878 ... twenty-five years old. . . .

His heart ailment was believed to be the consequence of a
complicated case of influenza to which Rhodes had fallen victim
during his first term in Oxford in 1873.

GOD S CHOSEN PAINTER

From the time of this first attack the influences of a defective
cardiac system showed themselves in Rhodes* behaviour, thoughts
and actions. The irregular blood-circulation affected his entire
nervous system: a pressure in the chest caused a subconscious
feeling of anxiety leading to a permanent restlessness of mind and
body.

Rhodes felt or knew now that the span of his life was limited.
He would have to hurry if he wanted to see his plans realized.
He had to take short-cuts and apply pressure on himself and on
his collaborators. Death was waiting and knocked daily at the
door.

In his haste he did not ask if the means applied to any of his
projects, financial, industrial, political or personal, corresponded
with the generally accepted moral code.

Mining had lately become more complicated. Some mines were
already so full of water that work had to stop. Rhodes was
thus looking out for an insurance against the coming slump to
compensate for possible losses. It would have to be something
completely independent of the fluctuations on the diamond
market; something which yielded a regular steady income in
ready cash; something without risks, something solid; something
that everybody needed and that nobody else possessed. If he
could find a steam-engine and a pump he would become the
most blessed and highly paid man in Kimbedey.

Rhodes had many a sleepless night thinking of how to get
hold of a steam-engine. One day he heard a chance remark in a
bar* Someone on a distant farm had begun to use one of those
new threshing machines worked by a steam-engine. Rhodes did
not ask any questions. Within a few hours he was on his way,
his pockets well stuffed with sovereigns and banknotes. He did
not even know where exactly to find the farm. Before he left
Kimberley he entered into a contract with the boards of the big
mines to take over the pumping-out of the water, and since he
was without competition he succeeded in obtaining a high price.

The owner of the farm, a Mr Devenish, was surprised when
a young man jumped out of a wagon drawn by eight sweating
mules and, holding a bag of sovereigns and banknotes under his
nose, shouted in an excited falsetto voice:

*I want to buy your steam-engine ... I must have your engine.
. . . Name me your priceP

[47]

RHODES OF AFRICA

*I don't want to sell this engine, I am sure. Just bought her
and jolly glad I did/

Til pay you any price. IVe got the cash here.'
'Don't waste your time^ young man. This engine is not for
sale/

Out of the farm-house there came Mrs Devenish. According
to the custom of the country she offered the hospitality of the
house to the stranger.

*I warn you, Mrs Devenish, I won't leave this place without
the enginel*

Rhodes stayed as a guest for several days without succeeding
in making the farmer even discuss the engine. Only once the
farmer replied curtly:

*I haven't altered my mind today nor will I tomorrow or next
week or any time at all. Put that into your pipe and smoke it,
young manP

Rhodes changed his tactics. Instead of following the farmer
daily to the fields, he stayed with Mrs Devenish. He told her
about the Vicarage, about his mother, his sisters and brothers and
his sickness. Within a few days he noticed that Mr Devenish was
becoming more amiable. For a few days Rhodes had stopped
mentioning the engine altogether.

After dinner one day Rhodes again put the question.
Mrs Devenish took Rhodes* side fervently. Her husband was
silent for a long time. Just as his wife started on a new argument,
he stood up, and holding his ears in despair he exploded:

'The pair of you drive me mad. Take the blessed plant and
disappear with it as quick as you can. But you'll have to pay a
jolly stiff price, that much I can tell you/

Rhodes did not bargain. He paid the price asked and immedi-
ately set out for Kimberley.

The rain had turned the road into streams of quagmire. The
mules, accustomed to light and quick work, could not pull the
heavy wagon through the mud. Rhodes needed a span of oxen.
There was a farm nearby. The farmer declined to lend his oxen,
Rhodes, afraid that he would again lose many precious days in
negotiations with an obstinate farmer, bought the oxen at a
fabulous price.

In the meanwhile the mining boards were becoming impatient:
neither Rhodes nor a pump had appeared. Upon his arrival he

[48]

GOD ? S CHOSEN PAINTER

had to stand up to a stormy meeting. But Rhodes knew that the
owners depended on him and did not suspect how badly he
needed their money. He treated them, all men much older than
he, with such casualness that they were sure there must be a
reason for his evident independence. In the end they changed the
contract to his advantage.

One of the new provisions stipulated that the mines had to
install a reservoir to receive and store the huge quantities of
pumped-out water. Only a few months later, just after the last
bucket of water had been pumped out of the mines, the temporary
reservoir burst and all the -water poured back into the mines.
Rhodes immediately made a new contract at double the fee and
secured for himself a monopoly for several years.

But the plant gave Rhodes and Rudd a headache for many
years. The engine had to be fed with wood, and there was no
fire-wood for a hundred miles around Kimberley. As soon as
the farmers who brought their wagons with wood over long
distances arrived at the market it was snapped up at fancy prices.

Rhodes bought a rickety cart with a shaggy horse. Before
sunrise he had covered many miles and was waiting on the road
outside Kimberley for the Boer farmers with their loads of wood
and bought his requirements before anyone else had a chance to
outbid him.

c lf only the pumps. ... If only the pumps. ... If only the
pumps. . . .*

Rhodes drummed the rhythm of these words nervously against
the window-pane. With every thunderstroke his body trembled.
His whole future depended on his claims in De Beers Mine not
being drowned and the reef not coming down. After his return
from Oxford, he and Rudd had bought several new claims
adjoining the old ones. The whole of De Beers Mine had been
offered to them for 6,000. They did not have the money on hand
at the time to accept the offer nor could they find anyone willing
to lend them such a large amount. The new claims they had
bought cheaply. Most owners wanted to sell. Diamond-digging
for the last few years was no longer a one-man venture; it had
become an industry. When the Government had repealed an old
regulation that no one might own more than ten claims, owners
of neighbouring claims in all mines had thrown their property

[49]

RHODES OF AFRICA

together. Amalgamations took place. Companies were formed.
Mining shares became objects of speculation. On the ^London
Stock Exchange speculators showed curiosity in "Kaffirs', as they
called these shares. The 'Kaffir-Circus' became an arena for the
most foolhardy and sometimes fraudulent speculations.

Rhodes foresaw that the time would come when they would
have to build a system of intricate galleries, hundreds of feet
below the ground. No one knew anything about real mining,
though miners from Wales and some fellows with experience in
gold-mining in Australia and California had taught them a few
tricks. Now they would need mining experts, engineers, new
machinery, props, mechanization. Money would be needed.

Rhodes, together with Rudd, formed all his claims in De Beers
into a joint-stock company, the De Beers Mining Company, Ltd.,
which was joined by some other ckim-holders. This company
owned the best sites in the mine.

A question which troubled everyone those days and well it
might was how long the good earth would still allow them to
tip up her womb and rob her of her precious riches? The yellow
ground, in which the diamonds were embedded, was running out.
At several places blue ground had been found beneath the yellow
strata, totally different from the upper formation. Would there
be diamonds in the blue ground? Sufficient diamonds? Well-
coloured and sizeable stones? And how deep would the blue
ground go?

A panic set in at Kimberley, Most diggers had no confidence
in the blue formation. They sold their claims if they could.

Only a very few men believed in the blue ground, among them
particularly Cecil Rhodes. When experts, urgently called in by
frantic owners, declared that according to the geological rules no
diamonds could be expected below the yellow sand, Rhodes
contradicted them sharply. To his partners, in the heat of such
controversies, he remarked sarcastically:

"Yes, they also told me in Natal, that I couldn't gtow any
cotton there!'

This yellow ground, he argued vehemently, was only a branch
of a lode of volcanic eruptions. The real bed of the diamonds
was underneath the yellow layer. So firm and convincing were
Ms pleas that his partners finally ceased their resistance to further
acquisitions of claims in De Beers.

[50]

GOD'S CHOSEN PAINTER

Rhodes' drumming against the window-pane now took on the
rhythm of a triumphal march. How right he had been! The blue
ground was yielding undreamt of-results.

Kimberley had changed during the two years of his absence.
It had evolved into a town, complete with streets and a few modest
brick buildings, others of corrugated-iron or wood; with churches,
theatres and hotels; with saloon-bars, bar-lounges, private bars,
refreshment bars and restaurant bars; with dance-halls, music-
halls and brothels; with gambling saloons and roulette-rooms;
with halls for baccara, chetnin-de-fer and lotteries; with races,
bookies and tipsters; with shops and trades-folk; with banks,
stock-brokers and 'bulls and bears'; with a suburban middle-class
and snobs and dandies; with unctuous churchgoers who donned
black coats on Sundays; with loafers, pick-pockets, diamond-
smugglers, pimps, forgers and impostors; with branches of
Europe's biggest jewel-merchants who had sent their young men
from London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna to open offices in one of
the new buildings; with diamond-brokers, men from Amsterdam,
from Hatton Garden, even from Bombay; with a town-council;
with a governmental mining-board; with police and prison.
Kimberley had taken on an even more cosmopolitan character:
crossing Market Square one could hear people speaking in every
dialect of the British Isles, in German, in die tool of the Boers,
in French, Russian, Yiddish, broad American, and Portuguese.

Rhodes took in this picture with an expression of satisfaction.

If only one's health will stand the strain. . . . *To do or to die'. . . .
Much and hard work will have to be done. . . . As long as there is
civilization, men will buy diamonds to put on women's fingers. . .
Diamonds, many diamonds perhaps too many of the glittering
stones lie hidden in the blue ground, . . . We have to keep up
their rarity-value and must not let the supply become bigger than
the demand. . . . We have to keep up prices to meet the increased
production expenses. . . . Now they dictate prices from London,
Amsterdam or Paris. . . . We will have to make diamonds once
more rare enough to be able to ask our own price. . . . We will
have to regulate the output, regulate the sale, regulate the price. . . .
But how? Bright Merriman has hit on the right idea: monopoly
by a general amalgamation. . . . One has to progress slowly,
unobserved and carefully not to frighten away one's chances.
Connexions, alliances and combinations will have to be made to

RHODES OF AFRICA

join hands with some of the big-money people* enterprising men
like the Rothschilds. . . . One must have money, one must have
powel: . . . money and power. . . .

The tapping on the glass stopped abruptly. Rhodes looked at
his wrist. He became afraid when he noticed on his left hand the
joining point of the raised arteries distinctly throbbing up and
down. If only one's health. . . .*

He quickly cleared the table of its papers. His friends were
coming home. Together with two other young men he was now
living in a wood-and-iron house away -from the diggers' quarters
in what was already at that time called c a select part of the town'.
In this house he messed with eleven friends known in town as
the 'Twelve Apostles'.

Rhodes needed people around him in the evenings and always
tried to keep them there as long as he could. During the day he
pfeferred to be left alone. But in the evening he dreaded solitude
and in later years used to keep his visitors up half the night.

In the hour before dinner, when his friends assembled in his sit-
ting-room for the traditional <sun-downer*, Rhodes, as usual, began
and directed the conversation by bursting into a lengthy monologue.

That day he was in an extraordinarily quiet and pensive mood.
In an unusually soft voice he told them:

In Oxford I had to read a damned lot of philosophy. Once
came across a passage about the importance of having an aim in
life sufficiently high to justify spending one's life in trying to
reach it. Made a deep impression, a deep impression on me. What
should be one's aim in life? This much I know: I have not yet
found it. One has still to seek it. . . .*

He stopped abruptly in the middle of the sentence. The cold
atmosphere, which told him that the majority of his friends would
not be able *to follow him, was interrupted when someone asked
Rhodes:

*Why did you come out to South Africa?*

'Why 'did I come to Africa why did I come to Africa? Well,
they will tell you that I came out on account of my health or out
of love of adventure a sort of wanderlust. To some extent that
may be true. But the real fact is that I could no longer stand the
smell of eternal cold mutton at home . . . the eternal cold mutton
at home!'

[5*]

GOD S CHOSEN PAINTER

And, while rubbing his hands along his left side, there followed
his usual laughter, starting with a loud chuckle and going over
into a staccato of falsetto shrieks, still stammering between the
fits: c Smell of cold mutton ... of cold mutton . . . mutton!'

There was an embarrassed silence until Rhodes, having
recovered from his laughing fit, addressed a thin, rather short
and insignificant-looking man across the room whose large
square head showed the first signs of baldness. A drooping
moustache under an amusing snub nose; two melancholic wide-
set black eyes, the eyes of an affectionate dog, as a friend called
them; the full-lipped mouth of an epicurean, a mouth ready to
kiss, yet also capable of remaining shut for any length of time, to
hurl unexpectedly a very few but bitter sarcasms into a conversa-
tion; these features constituted a face, pale, cold and reserved,
yet a face of which a stranger once observed that 'one could draw
at sight 5 on it. His hands were speaking hands, long, white and
well cared-for, the hands of a sculptor, or of a violinist; nervous
hands, dry, clean, strong hands, beautiful though alarming hands,
like those on the portraits of decadent Renaissance princes; the
hands of a skilful surgeon.

Rhodes had to repeat his question twice: 'And what made
Dr Jim come to Africa?*

Even then it took some seconds until the reply came in a quiet,
rather monotonous deep voice:

C A slightly mouldy lobe of the lungs to be dry-cleaned by the
rays of the African sun and to make as quickly as possible as
much money as I can be it by my skill with scalpel and knife or
by luck at the card-table that I can fulfil the dream and only
ambition of my life three acres and a cow in Sussex!'

This was one of the longest speeches which had ever come from
Dr Jameson. He usually expressed his utter boredom by an out-
ward jerk of his hands or by merely raising an eyebrow.

Dr Leander Starr Jameson could not be sized up easily. He
himself was not quite clear about his own feelings, or his aims
and ambitions in life. When he came to Kimberley in 1878, not
quite twenty-five years old, so many different and contradictory
inclinations lay dormant in him that they bewildered him and
caused in him many complexities which he tried to evade by
manifold diversions. He took to gambling.

He was a fine surgeon and had akeady distinguished himself

[53]

RHODES OF AFRICA

in London hospitals as an extraordinary young doctor who
promised a brilliant career. In Kimberley Dr Jameson missed the
.excitement of the operating theatre. His practice, though it
brought him a very good income, did not satisfy him. His tactful
manners, though distant and rather haughty, made him very
popular. Women of all kinds were particularly attracted by his
indifference, cynicism and callousness. Easy conquests did not
interest him. Without excitement there was no pleasure for him.

The only excitement that he could find in Kimberley's primitive-
ness was at the card-table. The same cold-blooded unimpassioned
mind which he had applied to difficult operations directed his
hand at poker.

He became a great gambler. No stake was too high for him.
When he held cards in his hands he did not utter an unnecessary
word. He never allowed his brain to become clouded by drink
while playing. He only drank ginger-beer.

Even when he once lost his entire savings at poker he did not
stop. He staked his 'house. He lost. Next came his carriage and
horses. He lost. Jameson now ventured his practice. He lost.
His friends gave him a small amount to try again, for the last
time. He won. When he rose from his chair in the small hours of
the morning he had regained all his losses and in addition won
a substantial amount. He knew, he said, yawning, that he would
be able to rely on his luck.

Rhodes and Jameson were immediately attracted to each other.
They were of almost the same age, Rhodes being five months
younger. The friendship between the two men confirmed the
truth of the French proverb: Les extremes se touchent. Rhodes, at
heart, was a romantic. That a financier, -a ruthless, scheming,
callous money-maker, should indulge in romantic ideas sounds
contradictory. Have not mass murderers been known to keep
canaries in their cells? Do not child-slaughterers sometimes caress
a flower-pot on the window-sill? Have not habitual criminals
cried like children when their pet mouse was killed by a warder?
Did not Henry Ford remove his birth-place, a complete village,
and rebuild it in Detroit? Romanticism always crops up.

Cecil Rhodes was never able to cast off his school-boyish
romanticism. The combination of his *two universities of life',
Kimberley and Oxford, had nurtured in him a conglomerate of
contradictions. In his brain insufficiently digested philosophical

[54]

The diamond market at
Kimberley in 1888. Alfred
Beit's office is on the extreme
left

Alfred Beit

Old Kimberley. The Club on
Du Toit's Pan Road in 1888

Charles Dunell Rudd

GOD S CHOSEN PAINTER

ideas from the classics, political catch-phrases of the time* the
claptrap display of British Imperialism, his freshly acquired second-
hand Darwinism, his own juvenile optimism and the anxiety-
neurosis caused by his defective heart, all battled against the base,
the corrupt, the merciless methods which one had to apply to be
successful in the world of business. The slight touch of culture
he had brought to Africa from Oxford made him see a problem
in everything. His restlessness prevented him from delivering
himself completely to long inactive meditations. Finally his
intuition, his instinct, his impulsiveness dispersed all scruples.

Dr Jameson's mind, trained on science, was never troubled by
emotional entanglements but he, too, was impulsive, though it
was not the nervous impulsiveness of Rhodes. It was born out
of temperamental impatience.

Rhodes had the better brain, a wider vision and a stronger
power of imagination. Jameson was the quicker thinker of the
two. The Doctor was brilliant, a man of the world, full of con-
vincing charm. Rhodes* brain had to labour to produce thoughts.
He never lost his boyish shyness.

Rhodes was ambitious. He was permanently on the search to
satisfy his ambition. He always had to have new schemes to
exercise his thirst for power, to assert himself, to fight for some-
thing or against somebody.

Dr Jameson had no personal ambitions. Those which he had,
had been fully satisfied during the first years of his professional
life. Through his profession he had become accustomed to finding
ready situations for his actions. He did not have the patience to
allow conditions to mature and bring forth new situations. Just
like Rhodes, he could not wait.

Neither Rhodes nor Jameson were happy men. Both demanded
more from life than they received; the one because bis ambitions
never found an end; the other because he felt frustrated through
the lack of any ambitions.

Rhodes looked up to the Doctor, probably the first scientist
he had met, full of admiration for his cold-blooded logic. He was
attracted by Jameson's cynicism which had its source in the
Doctor's emotional poverty. Rhodes* cynicism was born out of
his contempt for men.

Though Rhodes was the weaker personality of the two,
Jameson immediately succumbed to him and allowed himself to

[55]

RHODES OF AFRICA

become a tool in Ms hands and did not hesitate to venture his

future fate on Rhodes. Together with Rhodes, he was sure, he
would never have a dull moment. And boredom he feared far

more than poverty.

The others had gone in to dinner. Rhodes and Jameson were
still finishing their drinks. Rhodes' eye fell on the small figure of
a young man sitting alone in a corner. He could not have been
much over five feet. As compensation for his diminutive stature
Nature had placed on his tiny frail body an enormous head with
a conspicuously wide forehead. People were immediately struck
by the lustre of his large brown eyes. They were dreamy eyes,
but at the same time the penetrating eyes of a man who is accus-
tomed to go to the bottom of things. From time to time this
young man took from his pocket a small parcel carefully wrapped
in tissue paper. Inside, between pads of cotton-wool, there lay
a large white diamond. Carefully he took out the precious stone,
held it against the light, looked at it from all angles, turning it
again and again, twisting it between his fingers, toying with it
all the while. One had the feeling that the touch of this beautiful
stone gave him a pleasant physical sensation.

His eyes and ears did not miss anything that was going on in
the room. He therefore gave no signs of surprise when he heard
Rhodes address him:

*Is little Beit again up in the clouds or calculating how much
profit this little stone will fetch in Hatton Garden? We want to
know what brought you from the Fatherland to Africa's inhospit-
able plains?*

Beit was always nervous in society. Such blunt questions
embarrassed him. A quick blush spread over his face:

'Hum, if you want to know only one reason; to make money,
to make enough money to give my mother in Hamburg a thousand
pounds a year and keep her a carriage and pair with a liveried
coachman. . . /

In comparison with Rhodes and Jameson he seemed dwarfed,
and not only physically. By seldom taking part in general con-
versations he was overlooked by those who did not know him.
Rhodes once declared that he was the finest listener he had ever
met in his life. There was always astonishment when he was
introduced as Herr Alfred Beit. No one expected Rhodes* closest

[56]

GOD S CHOSEN PAINTER

collaborator, the finest financial brain in South Africa, and one
of the richest men in the British Empire, to have an almost
negative personality. People were still more surprised when they
learnt that Herr Beit was a Jew*

It always annoyed Rhodes in the first years when, as sometimes
happened, people mixed him up with Beit, thinking that he was
the Jew because he looked so ^typically Jewish'.

Neither could people detect anything ^typically German* in
Alfred Beit. It was said of him that he had all the good qualities
and characteristics of the Germans and the Jews without showing
any of their weaknesses or faults.

Alfred Beit's father had been a wealthy merchant in Hamburg.
Before he died he lost his fortune and left his wife, three sons
and several daughters in reduced circumstances,

Alfred Beit was born in 1853, six days after Rhodes. By a
strange coincidence the three principal actors in South Africa's
history were born in the same year and within a few months of
each other. Relations advised the mother to send Alfred abroad
to learn a trade. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to the
well-known diamond merchants, Messrs Robinow of Amsterdam.
For five hard years he learnt everything there was to be learnt
about diamonds. His uncle Lippert, a wealthy merchant in
Hamburg, had a branch in South Africa, and after the discovery
of diamonds the house of Lippert entered into the diamond trade.
It was only natural that they asked their young relative to join
them there.

Beit came to Kimberley in 1875. He had a great advantage over
most of the other merchants, agents and diggers in that he was
thoroughly familiar with the diamond trade, was an expert in the
valuation of stones and was known personally to, and trusted by,
all the important diamond dealers of the world.

He was not willing to have his knowledge exploited by an
employer, not even a relative, without participating in the profits.
His chance came when Jules Forges of Paris, one of the world's
greatest and wealthiest diamond merchants, who had acquired
an interest in several Kimberley mines, needed a trustworthy
agent there. He found him in young Beit and another German,
Julius Wernher. These two young men became partners under the
patronage of Porges. What induced Beit most to join hands with
the Frenchman was the fact that Porges had excellent connections

[57]

RHODES OF AFRICA

with the London and Paris houses of Rothschild, and could
finance even the most expansive projects. The firm Wernher, Beit
and Co., was therefore founded on a very solid basis,

Wernher, nine years older than Beit, was the son of a Prussian
general. He was tall, massive and very blond. Though so
different physically from his partner, he resembled Beit in -every-
thing else: in his calm, reflective and sagacious manner, his
methodical, almost pedantic ways, his reliability, honesty, loyalty
and outstanding business capabilities. Wemher preferred to direct
their business from his office and Beit had to do the outside work.
He was therefore less well known in public and once remarked:

"They think I am only Beit's Christian name!'

These men, Beit with Wernher in the background and Rhodes
and Jameson, formed the best imaginable team for the conquest
of South Africa. Rhodes had vision and could foresee poten-
tialities, combinations and prospects. Jameson derobed these
dreams of their romantic wrapping and translated them into
the language of cold facts. He found the essentials, and with his
sceptical, cynical and logical mind he diagnosed, disinfected and
dissected them. Next Beit would step into action. Ideas to him
mean t figures. His brain, the brain of a financial genius, was
divided into double-entry ledger accounts. It could at an instant
reduce any idea to a balance sheet. Rhodes found delight in
juggling with big amounts like a conjurer. Beit with the pride
of a craftsman preferred to be admired for the solidity and
cleanness of his financial transactions, Beit soon became Rhodes*
business conscience, his financial encyclopaedia and his ready
reckoner. And there was Wernher, the Prussian Junker turned
London City magnate. In the end the ball was passed to him to
procure the money on the international money markets.

When Alfred Beit had arrived in Kimberley, he was amazed at
the conditions on the diamond-fields. Business there was con-
ducted by means of fraud, deceit and corruption. At least half
of all the stones on the market were stolen goods and had
originally been acquired from Natives by unscrupulous dealers.
Later the situation had improved through the strict laws against
I.D.B. (Illicit Diamond Buying) imposed by the Cape Govern-
ment.

Young, unknown, and unfamiliar with the ways of Kimberley,
how could one let the diggers and buyers know that Alfred Beit

[58]

GOD S CHOSEN PAINTER

from Hamburg would give them a fair deal? He would, he
reckoned, first have to give them proof that he trusted them. As
an expert he was able to determine much better than anyone else
the true quality and market price of diamonds. Thus, content
with a reasonable profit, he was usually able to offer a higher price
than those who were not quite so sure about the real value of the
stone and who had to be careful to avoid risks. As Beit wanted
to handle only the best quality and refused to deal in faulty
diamonds, he soon acquired regular customers, and buyers in
London and Amsterdam learnt quickly that they could rely on
him.

Rhodes had first noticed Beit when he encountered him on his
early morning rides. And late at night, he saw that this little man
seemed to work regularly when others sat in bars or were already
in bed. One night when he saw the door of the wooden hut open
he stepped in and asked:

T)o you never take a rest, Mr Beit?*

'Not often/

'Well, what's your game?*

Beit climbed off his uncomfortable high office-stool and, looking
up at the six-foot Rhodes, he replied, twisting his insignificant
little moustache:

*I am going to control the whole diamond output before I am
much older/

*I have made up my mind to do the same; we had better join
hands/

Thus started their friendship. It was more than a business-
partnership which led these two men, so different in provenance,
character, temperament, mentality and nationality to march close
together for a quarter of a century. The friendship weathered
even the stormy period of Rhodes* march on Africa.

Beit was and wanted to be only a business man. He had no
other ambitions. For him business was not a means to an end
but an end in itself. Money was only a second consideration.
Having no interests for which he needed money, as he was not
out for power in any form, with no social ambitions and indulging
in no extravagances, he devoted his life to his business in the
belief of fulfilling a duty, and also to help Rhodes to materialize
his visions. Beit was a modest man. He left the glory and the
applause to Rhodes whom he accepted as the leader. Yet, as

[59]

RHODES OF AFRICA

General Smuts, who knew both men intimately, stated: 'Without

Beit, Rhodes might have been a mere political visionary, bereft
of power of practical creation.'

When Rhodes was seized with an attack of loquacity nothing
could stop him. That night when he went back to his sitting-room
accompanied by a few of his friends, among them Rudd, Dr
Jameson and Beit, he started immediately on his favourite subject,
British policy.

1 tell you/ he said, 1 believe with Ruskin that all healthy men
love to fight and the sensation of danger; all courageous women
love to hear of such fight and how to brave this danger. And
I agree with Ruskin that we Britishers have lost within the last
ten years our spurs as a knightly nation; where we should not
have fought, we fought purely -for the sake of profit; where we
should not have been disinterested we have looked on because

we were frightened And I believe what Ruskin said that we

have to expect the highest destiny that was ever granted to a
nation. A road of glory is opened to us as it has never been offered
to a beggarly crowd of mortals. , . .

*I have read the history of other countries and I see that
expansion, that imperialism, is everything. The world's surface is
limited, therefore the great object should be to take as much of
it as we can. . . /

Rhodes stood up. His face had turned a dark red. He went to
the wall where his old crumpled map of Africa was pinned up.
With his big hand, carefully covering his crippled fifth finger
with his fourth, he went over the large white spaces in Southern

and Central Africa In a voice which was hoarse with emotion

and which with each repetition rose into a higher pitch, he
shouted:

I want to see that all red I want to see that all red British
red ... I want to see that all red British red . . . British red,
British red, British red . . . red, red, red!'

At about the same time a nervous, inhibited and unhappy
young man, his crippled left arm hidden under a military cape,
stood in front of an antique screen on which was depicted
allegorically in the form of a broad river the history of mankind
from the time of the Greeks and Romans till the Napoleonic
epoch. The young man, who was soon to occupy the imperial

[60]

GOD^S CHOSEN PAINTER

throne of Germany, had his finger on a little tributary, repre-
senting Prussia, and with a vibrating voice, lifting his hand in a
threatening gesture he spoke:

*This shall be a very big river some dayP

The old crumpled map on the wall seemed to have intoxicated
Rhodes. He continued to speak in an almost toneless voice as if
he were frightened by the magnitude of his thoughts:

c lt often strikes a man to inquire what is the chief good in life;
to one the thought comes that it is a happy marriage s to another
great wealth, and as each seizes on the idea, for that he more or
less works for the rest of Ms existence. To myself, thinking over
the same question, the wish came to me to render myself useful
to my country. I then asked the question, how could I?

f l contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the
more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.
I contend that every acre added to our territory means the birth
of more of the English race who otherwise would not be brought
into existence. Added to this, the absorption of the greater
portion of the world under our rule simply means the end of all
wars. The objects one should work for are first the furtherance of
the British Empire, the bringing of the whole uncivilized world
under British rule, the recovery of the United States, the making
of the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire.

'What a dream! but yet it is probable. It is possible.

*I once heard it argued so low have we fallen in my own
college, I am sorry to own it, by Englishmen, that it was a good
thing for us that we lost the United States. There are some subjects
on which therq can be no argument, and to an Englishman this
is one of themf But even from an American's point of view just
picture what they have lost. . . . All this we have lost and that
country has lost, owing to whom? Owing to two or three
ignorant, pig-headed statesmen in the last century. At their door
is the blame. Do you ever feel mad, do you ever feel murderous?
I think I do with these men.

'What is the highest thing in the world? Is it not the idea of
Justice? I know none higher. Justice between man and man
equal, absolute, impartial, fair play to all; that surely must be the
first note of a perfect society. But, secondly, there must be liberty,
for without freedom there can be no justice. Slavery in any form
which denies a man a right to be himself, and to use all his

[6!]

RHODES OF AFRICA

faculties to their best advantage, is, and must always be, unjust.
And the third note of the ultimate towards which our race is
bending must surely be that of peace, of the industrial common-
wealth as opposed to the military clan or fighting Empire.

^Therefore, if there be a God and I believe there is a fifty
per cent chance of the existence of God Almighty and He cares
anything about what I do, I think it is clear that He would like
me to do what He is doing Himself. And as He is manifestly
fashioning the English-speaking race as the chosen instrument by
which He will bring in a state of society based upon Justice,
Liberty and Peace, He must obviously wish me to do what I can
to give as much scope and power to that race as possible.

'Hence if there be a God, I think that what He would like me
to do is to paint as much of the map of Africa British red as
possible, and to do what I can elsewhere to promote the unity
and extend the influence of the English-speaking race/

Rhodes heaved a deep sigh. He went to his desk. From its
drawer he took an envelope containing a sheaf of papers covered
in his boyish handwriting.

Placing his hand on his heart, he said softly:

*I am not a healthy man. I suffer from heart attacks, because of
a leaking heart- valve. One can't know when one's hour is coming.
I had written it all down on this paper my last will/

In this paper 'Cecil John Rhodes, Esq., of Oriel College,
Oxford, but presently of Kimberley in the Province of Griqualand-
West', left in trust his entire estate to Lord Carnarvon, Secretary
of State for the Colonies in Her Britannic Majesty's Government
and to his successors in office and to Sidney Godolphin Shippard,
Attorney-General of Griqualand-West:

To and for the establishment, promotion and development of
a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be the
extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of
a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of coloniza-
tion by British subjects of aU lands where the means of livelihood
are attainable by energy, labour and enterprise, and especially the
occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the
Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and
Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not
heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay
Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery

[62]

GODS CHOSEN PAINTER

of the United States of America as an integral part of the British
Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in
the Imperial Parliament which may tend to weld together the dis-
jointed members of the Empire, and, finally* the foundation of so
great a Power as hereafter to render wars impossible and promote
the best interest of humanity.

This document humain speaks against Rhodes not only in the
schoolboy-romanticism of a twenty-five-year-old man, but by the
fact that in later years, when, through Ms economic and political
power, he was already a considerable factor in actively shaping
the world's politics, he did not repudiate this puerile stolidity.
When he came across it, instead of reading with frowning amuse-
ment about a juvenile irresponsible folly and then burning it, he
kept it and showed it proudly to his intimates. Twenty years
later he had not given up Ms mad idea of a secret society and
many other of Ms childish thoughts. Some of them recur in Ms
meditations until Ms last years.

It may be accepted, therefore, that tMs muddled romanticism
of a schoolboy became the driving ffiofif of Cecil Rhodes, the
Empire-builder, though, as we shall see in Ms later life, the
mercenary instinct entered into it as a mighty counterpoint. Point
and counterpoint chased each other in gay pursuit until the
vigorous money-leitmotiv could be covered only slightly by the
mighty blast of patriotic themes.

Rhodes' testament has been called even by admiring biographers
and hero-worsMppers 'absurd*, 'pathetic*, 'childish', 'sophomoric 5
and 'pathetically naive'. There is more to it than that: the
'apostolic fervour' with wMch he believed in Ms strange brand of
British Imperialism was caused by Ms suffering for too long from
a retarded puberty. Healthy normal English boys sweat out their
glandular troubles on the sports fields. Less robust boys either
work off their secretory overflow in active romanticism or fill
pages with lyrical verses or bloody dramas. Rhodes was not
strong enough for the one and no longer young enough for the
other. In addition he seemed to have lacked certain constitutional
properties as indicated by Ms Mgh-pitched voice, Ms complete
disinterest in girls and a rather sparse growth of beard. He
tried to compensate for such lacks by delivering Mtnself to an
almost mystic imperialism based on a militant creed of racial
superiority.

[63]

CHAPTER V

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

K i ODES was one of the few who had weathered all the storms
descending on the diamond-fields. In 1882, again under a
world depression, the diamond market hit rock-bottom. Rhodes
had bought still further claims in De Beers Mine. The shares of
his company, the De Beers Diamond Mining Co., Ltd., now with
a capital of more than 800,000, had also reached fantastic figures.
By selling them at their highest "prices and rebuying at a very low
figure, Rhodes and his friends had made considerable profits.
Every amount at their disposal was used to buy new claims.
However, Rhodes had also made liberal use of bank-credits, and
like everyone else he was unable to meet his obligations towards
the bank. His company suffered under these unfavourable condi-
tions.

It was not only the financial situation that gave all Kimberley
sleepless nights. The reef was again falling in. The richest mines
were covered overnight with thousands and thousands of tons
of earth. It meant that for months it would be impossible to dig
for a single diamond, and the removal of the fallen-in reef presented
an expense which could bring ruin to the most solid company.
A calamity like that swallowed much of De Beers big profits.
The dividends were very small and De Beers shares were worth
only half their nominal value.

Rhodes* belief in Kimberley's future remained unshattered.
He had already made all his preparations for underground work
in shafts. His aim, now no longer mere speculation but a necessity,
was to own all the claims in the mine. Nothing deterred him;
neither fallen reefs, nor world crises, nor impatient bank-managers.

The scramble for wealth continued in Kimberley. The four
mines of Kimberley, covering altogether the small area of seventy
acres, were exploited by ninety-eight individual owners.

As 'little Beit' had foreseen years before, the future, of
Kimberley and its diamonds depended on an amalgamation of
the whole mining industry. Rhodes knew that without Beit's

[64]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

co-operation his own and De Beers' future was doomed. Unlike
Rhodes, ''little Beit* was familiar since his apprentice days with
juggling on the stock exchange.

For the time being there seemed to be little hope of interesting
cautious city magnates in South African diamond mines. The
Times wrote in 1882, twelve years after work had started on
Kimberley's diamond-fields and after the yearly export had reached
the spectacular figure of iz million, that 'reports from South
Africa are wicked inventions of adventurers circulated for the
purpose of rigging the market';

There was no time to be lost. Rhodes and Beit were not alone
in the field. Amalgamation, with a consequent monopoly, was in
the air. Others were apparently working to the same purpose,
particularly Kimberley's present richest man, J. B. Robinson, the
owner of valuable diamond-claims. Rhodes usually tried to over-
come opposition by negotiations. He therefore wanted to join
hands with Robinson; but to have dealings with Robinson without
being squashed by him required superhuman talents. Among
South Africa's many shrewd, cunning and ruthless financiers he
was considered by far the cleverest.

His uncontrollable aggressiveness soon clashed with Rhodes'
iron determination and even with Beit's diplomatic pliability. He
believed that these two were out to rob him, and broke off the
negotiations abruptly. From that moment onward Rhodes became
his greatest enemy whom he would fight by any means, fair or
foul, even after death, and who supplied him for almost twenty
years with the only pleasure an ever-increasing hatred in his
drab life. In spite of his proverbial meanness he did not mind
spending large amounts when there was a chance to injure Rhodes
personally, financially, politically or socially.

To characterize this man one has to use the exceptional way of
starting with his death. When Robinson died in 1929, eighty-nine
years old, his will, disposing of his fortune of about twelve million
sterling in favour of his family with the exception of one
daughter and her two children whom he cut off cruelly with a
mere trifle of two thousand pounds without leaving a single
penny to any charity or national institution, roused a storm of
indignation throughout South Africa and Britain. His meanness
after death corresponded with his stinginess during his lifetime.
The general disgust at the will was expressed by a leading article,

[65]

RHODES OF AFRICA

tinder the heading NI1 nisi malurtf, in South Africa's most
prominent newspaper, the Cape Times, which always prided itself
tightly on its high journalistic standard. From this strange obituary
can be gauged the degree of contempt in which Joseph Benjamin
Robinson, whom his King had made a Baronet, was held:

. . . His eyes were shut during his lifetime. After his death his will
speaks out the almost incredible malignity of his nature.

That is one way in which this will stinks to Heaven though the
mention of Heaven in this connection trenches on blasphemy
against the elementary canons of private human decency. It stinks
too, against public decency. This man owed the whole of his immense
fortune to the chances of life in South Africa. He has not left a penny
out of all his millions to any public purpose in this country which
has showered these immense gifts on him. It would have been less
scandalous that he should have failed to leave anything to any public
purpose if during his life he had been a public or a private benefactor,
even on a scale of temperate liberality. He was not. His immunity
against any impulse of generosity, private or public, was so notorious
that the name of J. B. Robinson became during his lifetime proverbial
for stinginess, not only in South Africa but wherever men of the
world congregate together. . . . Such a will as this . . . carries a dreadful
penalty. It brands the name of the man who made it with an infamy
so conspicuous as far to transcend the highest pinnacle of scorn
whidrthe indignation of his contemporaries could have raised against
him. The evil which the dead man thus speaks of himself is terrible
to contemplate. It will live in the records of South Africa for all
time; . . . the loathsomeness of the thing that is the memory of Sir
Joseph Robinson.

They called him 'the Buccaneer*. There was something menacing
in his appearance, like the pirates of old depicted in boys' stories,
as he waddled through the streets of Kimberley, always a white
sun-helmet on his head. 'Sour faced and green with spleen like
a leek. ... He had no personality, no magnetism, but resembled
a mortal who had a tombstone on his soul/ Thus he was described
by a contemporary.

Besides his greed Robinson was driven by a morbid ambition:
he wanted to make more money than anyone else; he wanted to
be a leader; he wanted to outdo everybody. With jealous eyes he
watched Rhodes' rising position. Not only could he compete
with Rhodes in business but he outstripped him considerably in

[66]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

wealth. But the English parson's son, thirteen years his junior,
possessed that enviable quality which Robinson, the shopkeepers
son s would never acquire in spite of all his fabulous riches: to be
accepted as a 'gentleman'.

Robinson felt his social isolation. For these reasons, Ms hurt
pride worming him, the destruction of Rhodes became an
obsession in the vain man's life. He who would not dream of
throwing a penny to a starving piccaninny, who was known never
to enter a bar before making sure that there was no one in it for
whom he would possibly have to buy a drink, was to spend
thousands of pounds in an attempt to ruin Rhodes.

Robinson was feared, hated and despised in Kimberley. Rhodes
was equally unpopular but for other reasons. His eccentric
manners, his moodiness and moroseness made him thoroughly
disliked by people who knew him only slightly. Most of his
acquaintances shrugged their shoulders at the shabbiness of his
clothes. It was eccentricity carried to the point of disreputability.
He seemed to take delight in shocking people by deliberate rude-
ness; or he would embarrass them by ignoring everybody, sitting
in a corner in moody silence to break out suddenly into a strange
loud jocular mood interspersed with his nerve-racking shrill
falsetto laughter. All in Kimberley at that time agreed that- the
impression one gained of Cecil Rhodes was not that of a man
of almost thirty, holding a responsible position, but of an
irresponsible, spoilt, badly-brought-up boy whose head had been
turned by success.

It was generally admitted that Rhodes possessed extremely
high business faculties. When an important decision had to be
made in Kimberley concerning the diamond industry, his advice
was mostly accepted. Otherwise, if not absolutely necessary,
nobody wanted to have anything to do with him.

One of his friends summarized the situation in the words: "It is
difficult to be sufficiently unconventional to shock a mining camp,
but Rhodes shocked it/

His private life contributed considerably to his unpopularity.
That a healthy and rich young man should voluntarily renounce
the major pleasures of life was beyond the understanding of
Kimberley's easy-going crowd. Ugly rumours circulated about
him. That he lived together with a young man, his secretary

RHODES OF AFRICA

Pickering, mixed only with Dr Jameson, Beit and Rudd, all
bachelors, was never seen with a woman, shunned the company of
all other men and seldom entered a bar, seemed unnatural to most.

One cannot expect the gossips of Kimberley to have delved into
so complex a problem as a neurosis in a highly-strung young man,
physically and psychologically impeded. His leaking heart-valve,
even when it did not actually trouble him, must have caused the
unrest and depressions that alternated with boisterous outbursts.

Rhodes at that time was passing through a serious crisis. He
had staked his entire existence, as well as that of his friends, on
one card De Beers Mine. Any day falling reefs might dash all
his hopes. No one could foresee with certainty how long his
mines would still yield such rich results or any results at all.

It was not only a question of money. His prestige, too, was at
stake; and the realization of his dreams. The boyish dreams,
though still the same, were now slowly taking the shape of more
realistic plans: he had to make money, to gain power. Power was
necessary to execute his next step, to paint Central Africa red,
British red.

Yet in making money Rhodes found no satisfaction. He had
been happier in the early Kimberley days when he worked for
himself and was able to give free play to his thoughts, sitting in
the sun all day. Now, lately, he was incarcerated in an office. As
the head of a large enterprise he was forced to receive a great
number of people, many of them total strangers. He had not yet
lost his shyness. To overcome this embarrassing weakness he took
shelter behind a wall of cynicism, arrogance and rudeness.

With his rapidly increasing wealth and consequently growing
responsibility Rhodes felt the lack of the warmth of true com-
panionship more than ever. He had never learnt the art of making
friends which consists in giving and taking, but perhaps his
greatest loss was the sudden death of his eldest brother Herbert.
Of all his brothers and friends none stood so near to his heart.
Herbert had made a man of him in Natal and had been to him the
personification of an English gentleman.

Rhodes felt lonely. The friendship with Dr Jameson, Beit and
Rudd could not replace the intimate link between the two brothers .

Only sickly young Pickering possessed his full confidence.
Dr Jameson was too much of a cynic, Beit too much of a double-
entry calculating machine and Rudd too much of the correct and

[68]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

conservative cricket-playing Public School boy to follow him in
his far-reaching plans of a Pax Britannica as visualised in his
Last Will five years before. Young Pickering hung on his
Master's lips.

When Rhodes* heart again caused him sleepless nights he was
no longer frightened by the appearance of ghosts, though still by
the thought of death and the short time probably left to Mm.
The Last Will was taken out of the drawer. With his boyish scrawl
he added to the document the words:

KIMBERLEY, 28 OCTOBER 1 882.

I, C. J. Rhodes, being of sound mind, leave my worldly wealth
to N. E. Pickering.

The next morning he handed the astonished young man a
closed envelope containing his will, and a letter:

My dear Pickering, Open the enclosed after my death. There
is an old will of mine with Graham, whose conditions are very
curious and can only be carried out by a trustworthy person, and I
consider you one.

C. J. RHODES.

You fully understand you are to use interest of money as you
like during your life.

While still hovering in the lofty regions of his boyish dreams
the first step towards gaining power had been taken. The oppor-
tunity arose when Griqualand was formally incorporated in the
Cape Colony and was to be represented in the Cape Parliament.

Rhodes naturally wanted to stand for Kimberley. He soon felt
a strong opposition working against him. When the Old Buccaneer
learnt that Rhodes was contesting the Kimberley seat he immedi-
ately made up his mind that there was only one man entitled to
represent the diamond industry in Parliament: J. B. Robinson!

Rhodes had to be satisfied with contesting a seat in a rural
district near Kimberley, Barkly West, inhabited largely by
Afrikaner farmers and coloured farm-hands. A certain number of
Natives, 'raw* Natives fresh from their kraals as yet untouched by
urban influences, though holding only nominal voting qualifica-
tions according to the still liberal Cape Colony rights, carried
great weight in this thinly populated constituency. No secret
ballot existed. A lively trade in buying and selling votes went
on quite openly. On election day friends of Rhodes* brought a

RHODES OF AFRICA

troop of about 250 well-prepared Natives to the polls to vote
for Rhodes and thus secured a safe majority for him. The greatest
difficulty in his electioneering campaign Rhodes found in dis-
pelling the distrust of the Dutch farmers in his constituency. An
old Dutchman gave him the reason. c ln the first place, you are
too young; in the second, you look so damnably like an English-
man/

From the preparations of this election comedy the young
Parliamentarian learned the useful lesson that popularity could
be bought and that c every man has his price'. A generous method
of influencing people was henceforth adopted by Rhodes as the
chief instrument for paving his way. It developed into such a
skilful art that he was able to apply it without danger to himself
or the favoured recipient, no matter if he was of royal blood,
a high statesman, an opposing financier, a whole political party
or just anyone whom he happened to need at the time.

*Tell me a man's ambitions and I will tell you how to square
him, 3 he told one of his friends. Later in life he was able to boast
proudly: *I have never met anyone in my life whom it was not as
easy to deal with as to fight/

Rhodes came to Parliament with a ready plan the realization
of his youthful dreams. All now depended on infecting the Cape
Government with his enthusiasm for the urgent need to penetrate
northwards into the heart of Africa and secure all the unmapped
territories for Her Majesty the Queen.

That difficulties, obstacles and opposition would meet him
from all sides, he did not doubt. The Cape Colony, as he soon
learnt, did not offer fertile ground for imperialistic expansion.
Though Britain had ruled in the Cape for almost 200 years she
had not yet succeeded in 'colonizing* the country by winning
the hearts of the small white population. All efforts to anglicize
the people were met by growing opposition from the old Dutch
settlers in the towns as well as on the platteland* British colonies
were ruled from Whitehall, several thousand miles away. There a
Colonial Secretary, guided by a Cabinet which always feared the
displeasure of a strong-willed Queen, the discontent within its own
ranks and censure from the Opposition, had the onerous task of
combining British rule with local urgencies within the narrow
frame of party politics and at the same time of bridling the

[70]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

red-taped permanent staff of high officials In the Colonial Office
and the administrative representatives of the Government abroad.
These experts had acquired their experience of colonial govern-
ment through dealing with Natives or in colonies where the
British element was predominant*

Psychological understanding was needed to deal with people of
European descent, different in language, religion and mentality,
who prided themselves in having served as pioneers of Western
civilization on the African continent; and who always stood on
their rights to independence as individuals. Such insight into
psychological imponderabilities was not given to the British
colonizers. To them the fact that they had conquered the Cape in
1806 from the Dutch and had legalized this conquest in 1814 by a
payment of 6,000,000 cleared them of any moral obligations.
The Dutch inhabitants of the Cape, just like the Natives in any
other colony, had to accept British rule as it stood or to expect
trouble. Tactlessness, chicaneries and incompetence by British
officials, high and low, aggravated the position. English settlers
looked down on the Dutch population and considered themselves
the masters of the country.

The diamonds of Kimberley had changed the Cape Colony in
its economic, political and social structure. Before, the country
could scarcely eke out an existence from its agricultural products,
wool, wine and maize. Now it had gained world-wide importance.
Men from all nations had settled on the diamond-fields. The
industry employed more Natives than the whole of the rest of the
country. Trade flourished in the towns; farmers found a ready
market for their products there.

With clear insight Rhodes discerned at once the necessity for a
change in the sleepy, stagnant and parochial policy of the country
in accordance with the changed economic, political and social
conditions. He was prepared for a hard uphill fight but when in
April 1 88 1 he delivered his maiden-speech he made no great
impression. His nervousness was too obvious. Lacking grace of
oratory and charm of style, without control over his clumsy
gestures a disturbing twitching of his hands and an ungainly
jerking of his body he gave no cause of suspicion that he had
once won at the grammar school at Bishop's Stortford a silver
medal for elocution. A friend, when asked what he thought of
this first parliamentary effort, replied with an audible sigh:

RHODES OF AFRICA

'Rhodes, I think you are a great parliamentary failure/

Equally condemning were most of the Press comments. A
Grahamstown paper asked bluntly:

c Who is this young man from Kimberley, come to teach us our
business?*

With his contempt for formality and conventions, the dignified
stiffness of parliamentary traditions did not suit him. His negligent
way of dressing was immediately censured; one member asked
for a motion to make the wearing of black clothes obligatory as
it was in the Transvaal Volksraad. Red-faced, Rhodes rose and
in his high-pitched voice, in controlled anger, he replied slowly:

C I am still in Oxford tweeds and I think I can legislate in them
as well as in sable clothes.*

To sit for hours on the same spot and to have to listen, at that,
to other people talking meant real torture foi: Rhodes, who had
never been schooled in debate. Among his friends, in Kimberley
and in Oxford, it had always been he who held the floor. His
ideas, on the few subjects in which he was interested, were not
debatable contentions but formulated results of fanatical obses-
sions. For these he did not require the opinions of others.

As in his younger days his speeches were mere thinking aloud.
They never began with an oratorical introduction but led directly
into the matter. They stopped equally abruptly. Members would
realize that his speech was finished when they saw him bounce
down on his seat, defiantly sinking his hands deep into his
trouser-pockets.

As soon as he was in his seat, Rhodes* nervous restlessness
began. Like a bored schoolboy in ckss, or, as a journalist said,
*as restless as a spring dolP, he jumped up, flopped down again,
changed his position every few minutes, sat on his hands, played
with his papers. His shrill boisterous laughter often spluttered
through the quietness of the small chamber.

Rhodes, elected as an Independent, did not wait long before
making his weight felt in the House. The frankness of his nature,
his extraordinary energy, and the impetuous fanaticism of his
convictions soon made him a strong force with which Parliament
knew it would have to reckon in the near future. They all realized
that Rhodes had not left his well-paying work in Kimberley
without a very definite purpose.

Cape Town opened Rhodes' eyes to South Africa. Though he

[7*1

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

had now lived half his life in Kimberley, he had remained unaware
of the potentialities of the country which, in the political and
economic respect, began in the Cape Colony. In Kimberley people
had persuaded themselves that all that counted in South Africa
was their diamonds. Tliey thought, they spoke and they dreamt
diamonds. None of that cosmopolitan crowd of get-rich-quick
adventurers ever worried about racial or national problems. They
wanted to be left alone and not to be disturbed in their money-
grabbing activities.

Rhodes had never before thought in terms of South Africa as a
political factor. To him it had appeared as an inseparable part of
the British Empire, one of the components of Her Majesty's
possessions beyond the seas, without any national character or
aspirations of its own. Like everyone else he had believed that the
main task of the colonies consisted in contributing to the wealth
and strength of the Motherland, thereby giving her enterprising
subjects the opportunity of settling there in their younger years,
making enough money, and in the autumn of their lives coming
*home' and retiring in one of Suburbia's charming cottages.
Rhodes had believed that his plans of pushing North would never
succeed without the machinery of Whitehall. Yet from his short
political experience he learnt that 'the constant vacillation of
the Home Government which never knew its own mind about
us' was a weighty factor which would probably impede the
success of his Northern plans. His Jingo-ardour underwent a
hard probe.

In his political calculations he did not lose his sense of propor-
tion: c Are we a great and independent nation? No! We are only
the population of a third-rate English town, spread over a vast
country/ He chided all parties for the parochial aspect from which
they viewed South African affairs as if *the mist of Table
Mountain covered all 5 .

He needed allies for his project. Looking at the English
members in the House it became obvious to him that these self-
satisfied and narrow-minded village-pump politicians of lawyers,
wool-merchants, shopkeepers, importers and other righteous
petty money-bags 'had no other policy beyond that of securing
office*. Since every one of them cared only for the safe-guarding
of his own material interests, the English party was split into
several factions.

[73]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes' hopes turned to the other side of the House. The
Dutch members, the solid, sturdy burghers and farmers with a
few clergymen and teachers among them, formed a compact body
welded together by their dislike and even hatred of English rule,
and the consciousness of an awakened South African nationalism.
This strong national spirit had developed simultaneously with a
movement for using Afrikaans as a written language to form the
basis of an independent national culture. Afrikaans, a patois
evolved from seventeenth-century Dutch, had been used only as
a colloquial language, whereas in schools and churches as well as
in educated families High Dutch was spoken, until in 1875 the
Reverend S. J. Du Toit of Paarl founded 'die Genootskap van Regte
Afrikanders' the Society of true Afrikaners with the object of
'defending our language, our nation and our people'. Later, under
the name of the Afrikaner Bond, this movement developed into
a revolutionary and republican party with a programme of
secession from British rule and the establishment of a 'united
South Africa under its own flag' into which was to be in-
corporated with the Cape the two South African republics, the
Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State.

Such extreme anti-British aspirations in view of a strong
British garrison and bellicose Natives threatening the rear, courted
the danger of civil war. There was one man who recognized the
peril into which Du Toil's fanatical Bondsmen were steering. His
impassioned logic had led him to the firm conviction that the
quickest and safest way to secure the independence of the Cape
lay in an evolutionary process.

They called him 'the Mole* because he worked underground.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was more than a politician. Though he
never held office, except once when for a few weeks he had been
Minister without Portfolio in the Cape Government, and never
accepted an official position in the Afrikaner Bond, he was a
great statesman, perhaps even South Africa's greatest.

In spite of all the disappointments which England's South
African policy caused him and notwithstanding his critical
attitude towards certain characteristic weaknesses of the English
people, Hofmeyr always cherished in his heart a quiet admiration
for Britain, especially for her culture, her historical tradition and
English sport.

A man who for twenty years was the most prominent protagonist

[74]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

of England's national games, football and cricket, and who for
twenty years was the president of leading sports clubs, could
hardly have been such a dangerous Anglophobe as the London
authorities and English Press believed Hofmeyr to be. Bitterly
he complained that in England he was held up as c a Nihilist and
a Red Republican' and that as a member of the Afrikaner Bond
he was believed to pray every night for England's flag in the
Cape to be hauled down and the Colony's own flag to be hoisted.

Such accusations offended Hofmeyr' s susceptibilities. He prided
himself on political honesty. His honesty had caused him to
renounce a clerical career as he could not accept the official
orthodox views of his superiors. As a political journalist he had
started at the age of seventeen as the editor of an influential
Afrikaans paper he was cruelly and honestly outspoken.
Through his frankness he had won the respect, if not the love,
of his fellow-countrymen. And only his blunt and undemagogk
candour had allowed him to succeed in ousting Du Toit from the
Bond and in forging this party into a strong and weighty instru-
ment for a constructive South African policy of independence.
Its aim was federation with the help of Britain instead of a futile
anti-British republicanism with revolutionary operetta-methods.
Du Toit left the field and accepted a governmental position in the
Transvaal.

Hofmeyr now had the Bond under his thumb. 'The Mole* was
looking out for allies. The Bond, though the strongest single
party, needed a coalition to break the English block in power.
Rhodes felt that Hofmeyr, a man eight years his senior, well
versed in parliamentary jugglery, and with a strong party behind
him, was the only man in a House full of nonentities and
mediocrities who would understand his plans for expansion.
British Imperialism and South African Nationalism, in his
opinion, should be able to co-operate for a higher aim, the
unification of a Greater South Africa,

Much to Hofmeyx's surprise Rhodes came to his side to over-
throw the Cabinet of the time. He distrusted Rhodes, who had
been described to him as c a regular Beefsteak John Bull English-
man full of the exclusive traditions of Oxford'.

Rhodes had never yet met an Afrikaner of his own social and
educational standard. His opinion of the Dutch people of the

[75]

RHODES OF AFEICA

Cape was based mainly on casual encounters with farmers and
diggers in and around Kimberley. Hofmeyr asked him to his
home. When his carriage had driven him from the centre of the
town over less than a mile to Camp Street, Rhodes thought that
he was in the country* His eyes, well-trained in taking in the
beauties of Nature as well as the noble dignity of old Dutch
architecture, feasted on the shining whiteness of 'Welgemeend',
the eighteenth-century ancestral homestead of the Hofmeyr
family. It led him to think of its owner not as the irresponsible
agitator described by the English Press, but as the head of an
old-established family of landowners, an important component of
the country, who had every right to have a say in its government.
Looking out from the wide stoep Rhodes was fascinated by the
almost overwhelming view of the majestic mountains, the sea and
the green plains of the north over which was spread the dark blue
roof of the sky. Still more he rejoiced in the noble beauty inside.
This country possessed a highly artistic tradition of beautiful
workmanship as was shown by the exquisitely shaped chest of
drawers, the massive wardrobes, the elegant glass show cases all
made of the native finely grained stinkwood darkened almost to
black in the course of centuries, the graceful old Cape silver candle-
sticks and bowls, the shining copper vessels filled with the flowers
of the mountains proteas in all shapes and colours, heaths of
various shades, arum-lilies, and the red blooms of the aloe.

Rhodes now began to feel that the Cape was more than an
English colony; it was a country with an individuality, a pro-
nounced tradition and a culture of its own.

The two politicians felt their ground carefully and they soon
discovered the similarity in their ultimate aims: the inevitable
unification of South Africa. They agreed that the evolutionary
process could be instigated, led and accomplished by the Cape
and only by working together with Britain. Hofmeyr had no
objections to Rhodes' plan of northern expansion of the Cape
provided that he would assist the Bond in the protection of the
Cape farmers.

Unfortunately the plans for close collaboration between these
two men had to rest for a few years when the blundering policy
of the English Government and the staggering stupidity of the
military and administrative authorities in the Cape brought the

[76]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

relations between the Dutch and English elements to breaking-
point.

In 1877 Britain had annexed the Transvaal, carrying out a
threat uttered forty years before when some ten thousand Boers
began their Great Trek from the Cape. The causes of their exodus
were the insurmountable divergence from the British in all
political and religious questions, the enforced exercise of liberal
tendencies towards the Natives and Coloureds at their expense,
the exclusion of the Dutch in the government of the land of their
birth and the difference in their mode of living.

In their new lands, behind the Vaal and behind the Orange
River, they had started their republics on a patriarchal system.
Inexperience, their strong individualism and love of independence,
their hatred for authoritative coercion, made the consolidation
of their governments difficult. Costly permanent warfare against
neighbouring Native tribes, the impossibility of collecting taxes,
the lack of trade-communications and internal political squabbles
had brought the Transvaal to the verge of bankruptcy and the
threat of being overrun by the Zulus.

There remained only one remedy: help from outside. President
Burgers took up secret negotiations for an alliance with the
Germans, Belgians and Portuguese. But no European power
showed any interest. Only Britain was anxiously waiting to step
in:

Should the people of the Transvaal Republic consider it advisable
... to invite H.M. Government to undertake the government of
that territory . . . the request could not properly or prudently be
declined.

The Boers had understood from previous negotiations that
British help would consist of confederation, with the government
remaining in their hands. This belief rested on a proclamation in
the name of the Queen:

The Transvaal will remain a separate Government with its own
laws and legislation. It is the wish of Her Most Gracious Majesty
that it shall enjoy the fullest legislative privileges compatible with
the circumstances of the country and the intelligence of its people.

Notwithstanding all promises, the Transvaal was annexed by
England, in April 1877, its administration was taken over and

[77]

RHODES OF AFRICA

the State was deprived of its sovereignty. An Act was passed in
the Imperial Parliament at the same time c for the union under
one Government of the South African Colonies and States as
may agree thereto*. Britain had started to swallow the African
continent!

Rhodes in later years attributed all subsequent difficulties with
the Transvaal to the 'shocking misgovernment by the Imperial
Commissioner who conducted business on lines of a second-rate
line regiment'. The position of the Boers became untenable. All
negotiations concerning the sovereignty of the Transvaal were
declined by the British Government. The hearts of the Boers
were filled with hope by the election speeches of Gladstone,
condemning the oppressive policy of the Tories. Then Gladstone
took over the government in April 1880. The Boers believed that
England's Grand Old Man of liberalism would bring them
justice, freedom and help, but how could they know that
promises in election speeches and the finest oratory from the
opposition benches are forgotten when the exigencies of office
demand it?

In their desperation, the Boers were now driven to open revolt.
They had nothing to lose but their lives. In December 1880 they
declared their independence and proclaimed the South African
Republic with a provisional government by a Triumvirate headed
by an elderly farmer, Paul Krager,

With almost criminal levity high English officers in command
of the occupation troops neglected military precautions as if they
were conducting manoeuvres at Aldershot. Within the first weeks
they had to admit that they were dealing with a formidable enemy
who was far superior to them in mobility, in tactics on a hilly
territory, in marksmanship and in endurance. In the first two
encotmters British detachments were ambushed and almost
annihilated by the Boers. Mr Gladstone ordered peace negotiations
to be begun immediately.

For the period of the negotiations a truce was declared. It was
broken by an English general. The Boers avenged this breach of
faith by inflicting a great defeat on the British on Majuba Hill
which cost the lives of many brave English soldiers, including
their commander. Such a disaster to her arms and prestige com-
pelled Britain to conclude an immediate peace even under
unfavourable conditions.

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

In August 1 88 1, by the Pretoria Convention, complete self-
government was restored to the Transvaal, though Britain suc-
ceeded in keeping her thumb on the throat by adding to the
preamble the harmless-sounding phrase: 'Subject to the suzerainty
of Her Majesty/ This little clause was to serve for the next twenty
years as England's noose round the Transvaal's neck. Britain also
reserved for herself 'the control of the external relations of the
said State, including the conclusion of treaties 1 *

A shout of rage echoed throughout Britain: Avenge Majuba!
And in the Cape Colony, among the English population, the
shout gathered force until it became a wild roar.

Rhodes remained comparatively calm. Some years before he
had said:

The Dutch are the coming race in South Africa and they must
have their share in running the country/

To accomplish this a reconciliation between the English and
Afrikaners would have to take place. They all, the Boers in the
Transvaal and the Afrikaners in the Cape, dreamt, as he did, of
a united South Africa. So did Mr Gladstone and his Liberals in
England, but the South African confederation would be some-
thing diiferent from what he, Cecil Rhodes, had in mind. In, the
blunders of high British officers in the Transvaal, in the ridiculous
interference of Whitehall's black-coated politicians, one had seen
where ignorance over a distance of 6,000 miles could lead and
one would not be able to expect any understanding, much less
assistance, when one went to open the road to the North. "One
has to eliminate the "Imperial factor" *, mused the man who had
entered the Cape Parliament only a short time before as a fiery

Within this short time, strengthened by the events in the
Transvaal and under the charm of the Cape landscape and people,
Rhodes, the Englishman, the British Imperialist, suddenly felt
himself to be a South African. His claim of regarding himself as
a son of the country was met with scorn by the English side who
looked upon his alliance with the Bond as something akin to
treason. The Afrikaners considered this turn-about of so rabid
a Jingo as a clever political somersault by which Rhodes probably
hoped to land on the Presidential chair of a future South African
Federation. Only Hofmeyr believed in Rhodes* honest conversion
after Rhodes, on being taxed in Parliament, had declared openly:

[79]

RHODES OF AFRICA

*. . . By the accident of birth I was not born in this country,
but that is nothing. I have adopted the Colony as my home/

Rhodes was now completely convinced that the narrowness
of the English mind would not allow their following him in his
flight into the heart of Africa. Only the Afrikaners would under-
stand him.

Thus after Majuba, he found his way back to Hofmeyr. Through
a link with the Bond his political independence would be pre-
served. This freedom from party fetters was essential for his
political agility if he was to unlock the North.

He did not plunge entirely into the nationalistic mentality of
the Bond extremists. Britain remained for him the Mother of the
Empire and South Africa her daughter who would set up house
as soon as she was old enough but without tearing the family
bonds. When a republican journalist interviewed Rhodes and
pointed out that they wanted him as the leader of a United South
Africa provided he agreed that they must be independent of the
rest of the British Empire, he replied:

No! You take me for a rogue or a fool. I should be a rogue to
forfeit my history and traditions, and a fool because I should be
hated by my own countrymen and distrusted by yours.

In spite of events in the Transvaal, Hofmeyr still believed that
South Africa's future depended on a welding of the English and
Afrikaner people into a nation as part of the British Empire. He
was convinced that Rhodes did not join in the Englishmen's
cries of ' Avenge Majuba', though he was afraid that, like other
Englishmen, he had looked upon the first defeat of the English
by the Boers as a humiliation.

Both men looked forward with some apprehension to their
first talk after the end of the Transvaal war. Without preliminaries
Hofmeyr began to sound Rhodes:

'It is an awful pity that the war broke out,* he remarked.

For a few moments Rhodes looked at him in silence, rubbing
his chin vehemently with his forefinger. Then he burst out in his
shrillest descant:

c No, it is not. . . . No, it is not, it's not. One has quite changed
one's opinion . . . quite changed one's opinion. It's a good thing
... a good thing. . . . Has made Englishmen respect Dutchmen

[80]

ELIMINATING THE IMPERIAL FACTOR

and made them respect one another. . . . Quite changed one*s
opinion. . . /

Hofmeyr's eyes sparkled behind his spectacles. Slowly he
replied:

'Well, when an Englishman can speak like that to a Dutchman,
they are not far from making common cause with one another/

Rhodes was certain of Hofmeyr's reliability. Now he could
proceed to action. It almost happened that his activities took
place at the other end of Africa, in Egypt, and that he perished
in the Sudan at the hands of the "Mad MahdF together with
General Gordon, at the fall of Khartoum in 1885.

Rhodes, as a member of a governmental Commission, met
General Gordon after he had been called to South Africa in 1882
to pacify and later to administrate rebellious Basutoland. The
fifty-year-old general, as "Chinese Gordon*, enjoyed great
popularity in England. His gallant exploits in quelling the Chinese
Revolution (1860-64), his fearless fight against slave-traders and
his consolidation of England's power in the Sudan as its Governor-
General, had aroused the admiration of the English people and
made him a national hero.

Here was a "man of action' according to Rhodes' liking: a
"hero of nerves', an empire-builder, unconventional, full of
contempt for "solemn plausibilities', driven by his own initiative
to spread the gospel of Britain's greatness, hard and unyielding
towards Whitehall's bureaucratic despotism and audacious in
opposing his own government. He looked up to the general with
awe. Though a difference of twenty years in age stood between
them and they were completely opposed in their social and mental
make-up, a deep friendship linked them immediately. Even their
differences did nothing to slacken their intimacy. At the end of
one heated argument Gordon burst out:

"You always contradict me. I never met such a man for his own
opinion. You think your views are always right and every one
else wrong. You are the sort of man who never approves of
anything unless you have the organising of it yourself/

They could not agree on the importance of material goods.
Gordon was absolutely disinterested in worldly possessions. After
the successful ending of the Rebellion the Chinese Government
wished to express its gratitude. They took him to the Peking

[81]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Palace, led him to a large strong-room filled to the ceiling with
gold and jewelled treasures, and invited him to take it all.

*What did you do?' Rhodes inquired, his eyes shining.

'Refused it, of course. What would you have done? 9

*I would have taken it and as many more roomfuls as they
would give me. It is no use for us to have big ideas if we have
not got the money to carry them out/

Nevertheless Rhodes was a man after Gordon's own heart.
Rhodes, though he admired Gordon as the personification of
British Imperialism, doubted whether he would be able to work
in close co-ordination with him. One of the hindrances, he felt,
was Gordon's strange belief in spiritual influences. Thus he
needed scarcely any reflection when Gordon one day asked him:

'What are you going to do after your work is finished here in
Basutoland?'

( I have to go back to Kimberley and look after my diamond
mines/

'Stay with me. We can work together/

*I have to execute my own plans/

'There are very few men in the world to whom I would make
such an offer . . . very few men, I can tell you; but, of course,
you mil have your own way/

Two years later Gordon had repeated the offer to Rhodes to
come with him to the Sudan. When Rhodes learnt of the tragic
end of this brave general who had been captured and beheaded
by the Mahdi at Khartoum, he sighed: *. . . I wish I had gone with
Gordon. I would willingly have died with him/

Someone asked him if he could possibly have extricated poor
Gordon from his hopeless position in besieged Khartoum. Rhodes
smiled. 'Very simple: by "squaring" the Mahdi/

[82]

CHAPTER VI

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

rip HE hoofs of eight mules stamped a syncopated rhythm on
JL the sun-baked road one summer day in the year 1885. Road?
Roaming herds of elephants in search of water during droughts
centuries ago, trod out a path. Later missionaries had travelled
over it on their way north. Traders had used it to reach the land
of the Bechuana, where they exchanged their shabby products of
Western civilization for ivory and pelts. This primitive path was
the only direct link between the Cape Colony and the heart of
Africa. The hunters called it the 'Missionary Road*.

The carriage was jolted, shaken and tossed and often threatened
to overturn. But the ruddy face of its occupant, under a big slouch
hat, radiated contentment and happiness.

Cecil John Rhodes, once more, for the third time within three
years, on his way to Bechuanaland as Her Majesty's Deputy
Commissioner on a special mission for the Government of the
Cape Colony, had every reason to be satisfied with himself. At
the age of thirty-two he had succeeded in all the preliminary plans
for his great scheme. As chairman of De Beers, a company
with a capital of a million pounds, he represented a mighty
financial factor in South Africa's business world. Politically, he
possessed the coveted instrument on which he could play his
own tune.

Between two parliamentary sessions he had been able to hurry
to Oxford and perform the unique feat for a Member of Parlia-
ment of concluding his studies and obtaining the degree of a
Bachelor of Arts and so fulfil one of the ambitions of his
youth.

Cecil Rhodes smiled as he leaned back on the hard padding of
the coach as it rolled across the plains of Bechuanaland. Well
might he smile. He, Cecil Rhodes, Esq., B.A. (Oxon), M.P.,
former Treasurer of Her Majesty's Government of the Cape
Colony, now Leader of the Opposition, charged by the Colonial
Office to act as Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioner, was on his

[83]

RHODES OF AFRICA

way to engrave Ms name in the book of the great English Empire-
builders. . . .

The scramble for Africa had begun. Everything now depended
on developments in the Cape and the adjoining territories whether
his plans would be realized within a short time. Cecil Rhodes was
in a hurry. The beat of his leaking heart, the metronome of his
actions, drove him to greater speed. Lately his thoughts had
turned more than ever to the vast unexplored countries in the
North. Rumours of gold-findings in the land of the Bechuana and
the Matabele persisted. Was this Ophir, the Land of Gold, whence
was brought to King Solomon the gold, rare wood, precious
stones, silver, ivory, spices and apes and peacocks as was written
in the Book of Kings?

Suddenly there had appeared a threat that the jumping-board
for Ms dive into the vastness of Africa's interior would be drawn
from under his very feet. Bechuanaland, the door to the North,
from where he had dreamt to start painting the land red, British
red; Bechuanaland, the gate wMch could shut off the Cape from
the riches lying in wait for him; Bechuanaland, the 'Suez Canal of
the trade of the Cape 3 , was now in danger of being lost for ever.

Since 1881 a state of anarchy had existed in the border strip of
Bechuanaland along the western frontier of the TransvaaL The
way to the interior, along the 'Missionary Road', lay through tMs
fertile land. Already in Livingstone's time, the Boers had claimed
control over tMs road. Because the greater part of Bechuanaland
consisted of the Kalahari desert and other wide arid stretches,
tMs fertile, well-watered area had always been the battle-ground
of land-hungry tribes. Two groups of cMefs had been on the
war-path since 1881. The one part appealed in vain for British
protection and was ousted by its opponents with the help of Boer
farmers who had recently settled in the territory. Volunteers
streamed in from the Transvaal as well as from the diamond
fields, who, attracted by the promise, given by the cMef, of
generously sized farms conquered from Ms enemy, fought side
by side with the Boers. Among these volunteers there figured a
great number of shady elements, lawless fellows under the leade^
sMp of 'Scotty' Smith, an almost legendary figure of the Robin
Hood type, supposed to have been an officer in the Guards and
descended from a noble family.

[843

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

The British Government had not yet fully digested the 'shame
of Majuba* or the expenses of the Zulu wars and thus declined
intervention unless the Cape Colony was willing to participate
in the costs and provide actual military assistance. Whitehall was
not in the least perturbed when the 'ruffianly freebooters' pro-
claimed the conquered territory as independent states, the
Republics of Stellaland and Goshenland.

Rhodes immediately scented the danger that the Transvaal was
hiding behind these freebooter republics, with the intention of
barring the Cape Colony's access to the North. He succeeded in
1882 in having a commission sent to Bechuanaland, including
himself as one of its members. He was able to persuade one of
the fighting big chiefs to cede the whole country to the Cape by
the promise of help against the Boer freebooters. Having just
finished a campaign against the Basutos at the cost of 3 million,
the Cape Government, however, could not be persuaded to such
expensive adventures, especially since unfavourable conditions in
the Colony had caused a 'retrenchment mania*. A bank crisis had
followed a slump on the diamond market; phylloxera had ruined
the Cape wine export; smallpox, particularly in the Kimberley
district, obstinately diagnosed by Dr Jameson as harmless skin-
trouble in order to please the mine-owners, had decimated the
Natives*

Disgusted, Rhodes returned to Kimberley from his first mission
to Bechuanaland. His own affairs were in urgent need of his
presence. His bank was becoming worried about Ms high over-
draft. Rhodes did not care. His thoughts were concerned only
with saving Bechuanaland and providing free access to the North
for the Cape. He was sick. This time something more than his old
heart-trouble and the usual camp-fever gnawed at his system
Dr Jameson advised him to stay at home. But he must, even if
he had to crawl, go to Cape Town and tell those blockheads of
Parliamentarians that the whole future of the Cape was at stake
in Bechuanaland. Could they not see, those pothouse politicians,
that one was standing before the most momentous question ever
faced by this country: whether the Cape Colony was to be limited
to its present boundaries or whether it was to become the domi-
nant power on which the future Federation of South Africa would
be built and from where civilization would spread over the entire
interior?

RHODES OF AFRICA

There was Paul Krager behind those filibustering republicans,
and nobody saw that he was out to strangle the Cape by barring
her way to the open spaces of the North. . . . These clever Boers
knew full well why they had chosen that sly, tenacious, shrewd
old mule of a zealot as President. He was showing an admirable
master hand in his daring policy. ... If one looked in comparison
at Whitehall's blindfold passiveness and negative parochialism
one could scream, one could, . , . They could not see in Cape Town
through the haze over Table Mountain that this narrow strip with
the Missionary Road to the North was the bottle-neck of South
Africa. Whoever possessed Bechuanaland would be master in
South Africa. , . . Some of those mealy-mouthed old women of
politicians who object to bringing the Natives under our control
by taking their land, will probably say: 4 How improper! How
immoral!* I do not have these scruples. ... I believe that the
Natives are bound gradually to come under the control of the
white man. . . .

Still suffering from his indisposition, Rhodes, once in Parlia-
ment, immediately caught Mr Speaker's eye. He had felt too sick
to prepare his speech and thus spoke without notes. His words
spluttered out in cascades.

When he noticed that his speech was meeting with an icy
reception, Rhodes gave warning, in order to please the Bond
members, of a threatening Imperial interference in Bechuanaland.
No sign of any emotion showed on Hofmeyr's poker face. His
followers lolled in their seats, bored. Suddenly life came into them.
Attentively they leaned forward. Were they hearing right? Was
this indeed the Member for Barkly West speaking, that arch-
Jingo? They had never really trusted his assertion of friendship
for the Dutch. But *Onse Jat? had told them that his friend Rhodes
was a ware en opregte vriend van Afrikaner dom. And their leier, such
a learned man, ought to know better than they, simple ignorant
farmers from the platteland* They straightened themselves in their
seats, and some held their cupped hands to their ears. Not a word
did they want to miss.

Rhodes braced himself for an ultimate effort. He stepped back
a few paces to lean against the wall. Defiantly he sank both fists
deep into the pockets of his jacket. His face was flushed crimson.
His faltering falsetto voice indicated that though his emotions
were carrying him away, he was choosing his words carefully:

[86]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

* We know that all sorts of "fuel* * are said to be In Bechuanaland
and Imperial interference in Bechuanaland would be one source
of fuel. . . . We want to get rid of the "Imperial Factor " in this
question, and to deal with it ourselves. . . .*

The English members of the House looked stunned. Almost
open treachery to Her Maj esty *s flag, they thought. What a peculiar
fellow, this Rhodes! Hofmeyr shook his head. No! Bechuanaland
belonged by rights to the Boers. The English were surely not
interested in being involved in a probably expensive squabble with
filibusters and Natives for the sake of a sandy waste. What non-
sense was this fellow talking: hundreds of thousands of pounds of
trade from the Cape to the Interior via the "Missionary Road'!
Rubbish! Probably a few Jewish smousers (hawkers) went there
occasionally, cheating the Kaffirs with rusty Napoleonic muskets,
beads and Manchester goods and bringing home some ivory, pelts
and similar odds and ends.

Rhodes became aware that the English in Cape Town were
ostracizing him. In several towns of the Colony he was burnt in
effigy.

Now he stood alone. He did not give up hope. Perhaps, he
mused, Bechuanaland could only be saved by 'Grandma 5 , and one
would have, after all, to rdy on the Imperial Factor'. In a letter
to Whitehall he implored the British Government to annex
Bechuanaland. It was decided to follow his advice provided that
the Cape Colony bore half of the expenses involved. The Cape
Government declined the offer and from Whitehall there came
a short note to Rhodes that they considered the incident closed.

The year 1884 saw a complete change in the whole situation.
Germany unwittingly came to Rhodes* aid. The black-white-and-
red flag was suddenly, and much to Britain's consternation,
hoisted on the African continent.

Bismarck had misjudged colonial possessions as expensive
hobbies, but with Germany's progressing industrialization and
a large population increasing menacingly, the question of absorp-
tion of her surplus in men and manufactured goods became acute,
He now realized that other countries kept colonies as dumping-
places for just such a purpose.

Another lesson the German Chancellor learnt from his own
private estate: he had erected a krge paper mill and a distillery on

RHODES OF AFRICA

his Varzin farm. For ten years, in the boom after the Franco-
Prussian War, business flourished. Then the world-slump of the
.eighties affected the sale of his paper and Schnaps. Herr Luederitz,
a merchant of Bremen, advised him to try to export. Africa was a
gobd market. With cheap liquor one could buy the whole of the
continent, but, of course, die verdammten ULnglander would not let
German competitors even pick crumbs from under their table.
How different it would be if Germany had colonies of her own.
There was a tremendous stretch of land, for instance, reaching
from the south-west coast of Africa inland for thousands of miles
right into the heart of the continent. Britain had occupied only
a tiny spot on this south-west coast. Here was a place to start
with German colonies. If the Government stood behind him,
Herr Luederitz would himself hoist the flag of the Fatherland
there.

Bismarck gave his blessings and along with it a shipload of his
Varzin Scbnaps. He had caught Gladstone, the Foreign Office, the
Colonial Office and the British Ambassador not only napping but
sound asleep. Hoping still" to hook England into his net of
alliances, he did not want to cause any discord over some sun-
baked African sand-dunes. His inquiries through the British
Ambassador whether Britain objected to a German settlement on
the African south-west coast remained unanswered. Whitehall's
inquiry in Cape Town of what should be done was accidentally
pigeon-holed and did not come up for discussion for months.
They were busy once again in Cape Town forming a new Cabinet.
Rhodes became Treasurer in the new Ministry. Thus he, just as
the entire British and Cape Governments, can be held responsible
for having missed this chance of stopping Germany from obtain-
ing a foot-hold on African soil.

When they finally woke up it was too late. Luederite had settled
on the Bay of Angra Pequena and this land, only 150 miles from
the frontier of the Cape Colony, was declared German territory.
Rhodes realized fully that only the quickest action could forestall
further 'damage. 'We must have Damaraland/ became his daily
prayer. His colleagues, occupied with ridiculous petty party
matters, did not show the slightest interest.

Since it seemed so easy to acquire colonies, Bismarck's appetite
for *a place in the sun* grew. A few months kter Germany
formally annexed Damaraland and Namaqualand with a coast-line

[88]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

of 930 miles and a total area of 520,000 square miles, a terri-
tory larger than Germany itself. Before Britain had time to
recover from the shock the Germans also acquired territory in
the Cameroons and Togoland, and established themselves in
Zanzibar in East Africa. The French, the Belgians and the
Portuguese were also pushing forward, each nation driving on in
a mad race to cut for themselves as large a chunk of the African
body as they could. They had no use for these swampy, fever-
invested lands. No one else should have them that was the only
aim in their colonizing plans.

In Downing Street they were immediately worried by German
penetration into the South. African sphere and the threat of their
joining hands with the Boers. Only Bechuanaland separated the
German colony from the Transvaal.

Rhodes used the German bogy with great skill. Knowing
how deeply Hofmeyr hated the Germans, he emphasized that
Germany would no doubt employ her Bismarcldan Macbtpolitik
by absorbing the Transvaal. And what barred Germany's way?
Bechuanaland!

England was now wide awake to the danger of an attempted
strangulation by Germany in Africa. Gladstone was no colonial
enthusiast. But the Grand Old Man, always with his ear to the
ground, heard the voices of the voters protesting against his
'policy of scuttling*. This time he would have to be firm. A
torpedo-boat sent to the Zulu coast drove away the Germans,
who were just engaged in hoisting their flag there.

Gladstone was not entirely free to act. The year 1884 was
bringing the British Government galling humiliations at home
and abroad. Gladstone and his colleagues were accused almost of
murder by having delayed the relief expedition to Khartoum to
save Gordon. The German successes in Africa; the failure of an
Anglo-Portuguese treaty by a combined German-French opposi-
tion; the danger of war with Russia over her encroachment in
Afghanistan; Germany's blackmail tactics of threatening to take
France's side against Britain in the Egyptian dispute; all these fail-
ures had made the external position of Britain extremely difficult.

In order to pacify Germany, Gladstone had to agree to a
congress in Berlin to settle all colonial questions*

Something new in diplomatic terminology and consequently
in practical appliance was introduced with the elastic phrase '

RHODES OF AFRICA

of influence' which in the near future Colonial Powers were to
use for the exploitation of Africa. One could not in considera-
tion of the Liberal voters and, of course, one's own Christian
conscience leave the Natives out altogether in a document of
about 60,000 words. Two hundred words of hypocrisy, bigotry
and lies were devoted to them, such as 'watch over the preserva-
tion of the native races, and the amelioration of the moral and
material conditions of their existence ... to educate the Natives,
and lead them to understand and appreciate the advantages of

civilization*.

King Leopold of the Belgians, Cecil Rhodes, Dr Peters, Herr
von Wissmann and Major Pinto must have had a good laugh
when they read this document.

Gladstone, certainly, was not in a hilarious mood. This
Bechuanaland affair which he had hoped would settle itself
somehow was a heavy load on his mind. The German encircle-
ment of Britain's African possessions was aggravated by an
increased unrest among the Boers who were agitating for a
complete alteration of the Pretoria Convention of 1881. With
displeasure the gentlemen at Whitehall saw among the Boer
delegation in London Commandant Smit, the victor of Majuba,
and the Reverend S. J. Du Toit, the militant Republican agitator
from the Cape, now in the service of the Transvaal.

The Boers succeeded in obtaining a few amendments to the
treaty. Some boundaries were corrected; they were now allowed
to call their state "The South African Republic'; its internal
administration was to be free of British supervision. But they
were not given the freedom to expand. Treaties with Native tribes
were still to require approval from London.

In their main demand, the abolition of British suzerainty as
laid down in the preamble of the Pretoria Convention, the Boers
did not succeed. True, in the new agreement the word suzerainty
was not mentioned at all. With diplomatic shrewdness the British
Government drcumnavigated the delicate subject with the simple-
sounding statement in a new preamble that *the following Articles
of a new Convention . . . shall ... be substituted for the articles
embodied in the Convention of 3 August 1881'.

The Boers did not learn until later to their consternation that
they had been duped by legal trickery: the old preamble with the
suzerainty clause was not suspended by the new Convention.

[90]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

At Downing Street they were highly satisfied with this achieve-
ment. Yet their peace of mind was to be seriously disturbed during
the next few weeks* President Kruger and Ms delegation, before
returning home, had toured the European capitals. In Holland
he had concluded contracts for a railway-line from Delagoa Bay
in Portuguese East Africa to Pretoria. Was he out to eliminate the
British ports in South Africa and the railway planned from there
to Pretoria for the transport of all Transvaal shipments? It would
mean a considerable loss in harbour dues, customs fees and later
in railway costs, besides having to forgo control of what was
going into and coming out of the country.

Still more disheartening was the news of Kruger's reception
in Berlin. There Bismarck, speaking at a banquet in honour of
Kruger, emphasized Germanic kinship between the two nations
and Germany's interest in the welfare of their kinsfolk in Africa.
He ended with the assurance that Germany 'will take no steps in
Africa except hand in hand with the Boer people*.

It did not need further incentive to drive Britain to action.
Bechuanaland had to be saved from serving Germany's advance
to join hands with the Transvaal. The filibuster republics would
have to disappear and the whole territory be declared British. To
execute this delicate mission Whitehall chose the Reverend John
Mackenzie, a missionary and successor to Livingstone. A worse
selection could hardly have been made. The reverend gentleman
believed that his ability in dealing with Boers and Natives alike,
after his many years in Africa, was infallible. In his heart there
burnt with equal strength the aggressive love of a Jingo for
Britain and a contemptuous hatred of the Boers. His tactics were
dictated by the Aborigines Protection Society in London. This
society, with all its well-intentioned members of pious old
dowagers, ambitious social climbers, liberal-minded citizens, fiery
gospel propagandists, bazaar-organizing busy-bodies and clergy-
men full of self-importance, had ktely become a political instru-
ment intent on influencing the government in its colonial policy.
Propaganda from their headquarters in Exeter Hall had persuaded
Downing Street not to let the Natives in Bechuanaland be
enslaved either by the Transvaal Boers or by the Afrikaner Bond
in the Cape Colony who had as little to recommend them.

As the main requisite for his mission, the Reverend Mr Mac-
kenzie packed a good stock of Union Jacks into his trunk. At

[9*]

RHODES OF AFRICA

first his work seemed to go smoothly. He came to an under-
standing with Van Niekerk, the 'President of the United States
of Stellaland*, who was willing to accept Her Majesty's protection
for his burghers. Out of gratitude for such docility Mackenzie
nominated him Assistant Commissioner and agreed that the
existing government in SteHaland should continue. Behind Van
Niekerk's back he obtained from the Native chiefs the cession to
Britain of the entire Bechuanaland territory, including also Stella-
land. Van Niekerk protested vehemently. Mackenzie threw the
'President' into jail. When complete anarchy followed, the
reverend gentleman went to his trunk, unfurled the biggest
Union Jack, hoisted it and declared the territory annexed by
Her Britannic Majesty.

In Goshenland, Mackenzie received a still less cordial welcome.
The President, Gey van Pittius, took no notice of the Queen's
emissary though his attitude left little doubt but that he would
resist by force any attempt at British interference. Mackenzie was
not given a chance even to unlock his trunk to take out one of
his flags. Frantically he implored the Governor in Cape Town to
send him at least 200 mounted police. The Government of the
Cape, encouraged by the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, and
the majority of the English parties, had come to the conclusion
that perhaps Rhodes had after all been right in his warning against
bringing in the 'Imperial Factor'. The combination of Downing
Street and Exeter Hall was bound to fail and would probably
result finally in the seizure of Bechuanaland by the Germans or
the Boers. Hofmeyr was still adamant in his contention that this
territory belonged to the Transvaal.

Rhodes did not tire of trying to convince everyone that the
Cape Colony should take Bechuanaland under its protection.
Mackenzie was recalled. It was rather strange, many thought, that
the Governor should ask Mr Rhodes, now Leader of the Opposi-
tion, to go to Bechuanaland as Commissioner to replace Mac-
kenzie. Sir Hercules Robinson had warned him:

*Oh, you can go up, but I can give you no force to back you
up. You must use your own judgments/

*WM you allow me to do what I like?'

*Yes, but if you make a mess of it, I shan't back you up/

'That is good enough for me.'

Within a few days Rhodes was on his way. It had become

[9*1

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

obvious to Mm that the Stellalanders were not playing at politics,
revolutions or wars out of a love for adventure. They were harm-
less Boer farmers whose only interest lay in gaining security for
their property. After Mackenzie had! threatened them with expro-
priation of their farms, they felt that they could no longer trust
any Englishman.

Rhodes had learnt from mixing with the Cape Dutch farmers
of the Bond how to overcome their racial prejudice by the sheer
vehemence of his personality. Whenever his friends heard that
Rhodes had made a new conquest of an opponent, their first
question was always 'How much?' Lately Rhodes had been able
to answer several times:

"No, not "squared", you're quite wrong just on the personall'

Rhodes was determined to put the whole force of his formid-
able personality into play in Stellaland. Van Niekerk, who had
been set free just before Rhodes' arrival, received him full of
distrust and was not at all disposed to enter into negotiations.
Yet, like all the Stellalanders, he was much impressed by Rhodes'
personal courage in coming to their camp alone and unarmed.
He referred him to de la Rey, another of their leaders. With wild
eyes, fumbling with his gun, de la Rey refused even to listen to
Rhodes and shouted 'Blood must flow!*

Rhodes, without blinking, looked at the excited man with a
smile, his natural boyish smile, and answered calmly:

*No, give me my breakfast first, and then we can talk about
blood/

De la Rey was embarrassed at having to be reminded by a
verdomde Engelsman of the traditional Boer duties of a host. He
took Rhodes to his farm-house. Rhodes stayed there for a week
and became godfather to his grandchild.

After that the negotiations with the Stellalanders went easily
enough. Rhodes promised them that their land-titles would be
recognized if they agreed that Stellaland remained a British Pro-
tectorate until it was finally annexed by the Cape Colony* Rhodes
pocketed this agreement with relief and set out for Goshenland.

There he found an atmosphere of even greater and more
bellicose animosity than in Stellaland. The Goshenites, again at
war with the Natives, had just occupied a large slice of land
belonging to a tribe protected by Britain. Van Pittius, calling him-
self "Administrator of Goshenland', gave Rhodes to understand

[93]

RHODES OF AFRICA

that he considered him a nuisance. After Rhodes had refused to
recognize him in any official capacity he paid back in the same
coin by referring to 'Mr C J. Rhodes, calling himself Commis-
sioner for Bechuanaland*.

*A pretty kettle offish/ muttered Rhodes. This hardened Boer,
he had to confess, was immune to treatment 'on the personal*.
Van Pittius ignored Rhodes. He was not moved in the least when
Rhodes pointed out that by fighting against Natives who stood
under British protection they were waging war against the
Queen.

Such obstinacy could easily be traced to outside influence. As
Rhodes had feared, Kruger was the force behind it, by his nomina-
tion of General Piet Joubert, the Boer Commandant-General, as
'Commissioner of the Western Border' with the, function of
'preserving order*. Before Rhodes had an opportunity to approach
him, there appeared on the scene the Reverend Mr Du Toit,
freshly returned with Kruger from London and the European
capitals.

He hated Rhodes with all the fervour of a man whose ambitions
had been shattered. He held Rhodes responsible for his having
been ousted by Hofmeyr from the leadership of the Bond he
who had been its founder, the apostle of an Afrikaans renaissance
and the herald of Afrikaner republicanism in the Cape.

Rhodes must not succeed. Rhodes must be humiliated; and with
him the whole crowd of Cape intriguers and the whole English
race. Up went the Vierkleur flag of the Transvaal in Goshenland.

President Kruger knew nothing of this temperamental outburst
of his Inspector of Education. He had been waiting for several
days for a reply from Whitehall to his telegraphed suggestion
that the Transvaal should take over Britain's responsibilities in
Goshenland. When no answer came on the tenth day, seeing that
Du Toifs hoisting of the Vierkleur had presented him with a
fait accompli, Kruger proclaimed the provisional annexation of
Stellaland and Goshenland by the Transvaal 'in the interest of
humanity and for the protection of order and safety, subject to
the consent of the British Government according to the London
convention*.

Rhodes found this territory much too hot for him and left
quickly for the Cape, the second time within two years that he

[94]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

returned from Bechuanaland in despair. His scheme of operating
without the 'Imperial Factor* had failed utterly. Only one possi-
bility remained: Bechuanaland would have to be saved by
'Grandma'; by her armed forces if necessary.

Though still a novice at the game, Rhodes showed a master
haiid in creating in the Cape a popular storm of wild wrath
against the scheming Transvaalers who, as an instrument ' of
Bismarck, wanted to throttle the Cape. Hofmeyr and the Bond
were caught by the bogy of Germany. Patriotic fervour in the
Cape's summer heat, cleverly fanned by Rhodes, reached the
boiling-point of wild chauvinism.

In England the wave of indignation splashed high in the
columns of the Tory papers, who reminded their readers that
Majuba had not yet been avenged. Mr Joseph Chamberlain
pleaded vehemently in the Cabinet for an expeditionary force to
end the Bechuanaland trouble once and for alL Gladstone was
anxious to avoid war if possible. At last, however, the Governor
of the Cape, Sir Hercules Robinson, declared that military inter-
ference was absolutely necessary. Whitehall decided to send out
to Bechuanaland General Sir Charles Warren and a force of about
4,000 men with orders to clear Bechuanaland and, in case of
interference from the Transvaal, to go to war.

At the end of December 1884 General Warren and his army,
including Cape volunteers and, to the great disgust of all
Afrikaners, a contingent of Cape Coloureds, set out on the
war-path.

Kruger in his sagacity withdrew his proclamation. Thus there
no longer existed a reason for armed interference.

Hofmeyr dropped a confidential warning to Rhodes about the
certainty of open armed revolt of the Cape Dutch to aid the Boers
in the case of British aggression. London, however, remained
adamant in her decision.

Rhodes, now that the assistance by an armed force was no
longer needed and would only cause new trouble, cursed the
moment when he had called for the 'Imperial Factor'.

Warren was undoubtedly a good and gallant soldier. His
mission, however, required political and diplomatic aptitude and
tact. These civilian qualities the General did not possess.

After his arrival he had asked Rhodes to collaborate with him
by going to Stellaland and keeping Van Niekerk in good humour

[95]

RHODES OF AFRICA

during the operation of ejecting the Goshenites. Since Warren
had confirmed Rhode$' agreement with Stellaknd, Van Niekerk's
men remained quiet and declared that they would not interfere
with Warren's mission*

As soon as Warren came to Stellaland, however, he repealed
Rhodes' agreement by pretending that he had signed the telegram
of confirmation without reading it. Rhodes, during his stay in
Stellaland, had assured the Stellalanders by a solemn promise in
his capacity as Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioner that their
land-titles would be recognized. Warren, ignoring this binding
agreement, ordered the restitution to the Natives of their land.

When Rhodes remonstrated about such breach of faith and
the flat abnegation of Ms authority, Warren mounted the high
horse and asked for strict subordination to his orders. When
Rhodes offered to resign, Sir Hercules Robinson implored him
to remain at his post as his confidential representative. Rhodes,
fearing that Warren would commit further blunders, agreed to
stay. To ^restore the General's amour-propre* Rhodes declared
himself ready to 'act in direct subordination to him' instead of to
Sir Hercules, Rhodes even swallowed the bitter pill of having to
endure the sight of Mackenzie who had just published in a widely
read English magazine heavy personal attacks against him.
Warren had parried the thrust of the * Colonial' against the
"Imperial Factor' by calling back Mackenzie as his Assistant
Commissioner. There was now a close union between the belli-
cose martinet, the exponent of Jingoism, and the pious Boer-hater
whom Exeter Hall provided with all the moral ammunition of
chauvinistic fervour he needed for combating the Boers, the
Bond, the Colonials and, particularly, Cecil Rhodes.

Warren had arrived in South Africa with a closed mind of
animosity against Rhodes, the result of official and public slander-
ing of Rhodes as an anti-British and pro-Boer opportunist who
for his own political and financial benefit had stepped down to
the lowest form of disloyalty by taking the side of filibustering
enemies of Her Majesty.

Lord Randolph Churchill had expressed the general contempt
in which Rhodes was held la England when he inquired in a
debate in the House of Commons after Rhodes' nomination as
Assistant Commissioner, why 'some cipher' had been chosen to
replace the Reverend Mr Mackenzie in Bechuanaknd. From the

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

Ministerial benches came the lukewarm reply in defence of
Rhodes that he was *a gentleman of some distinction who had
always shown himself to be a great sympathizer with the native
races'.

These opinions about his disloyalty and the fact that he was
Regarded as a most horrid individual* at home, affected Rhodes
deeply. He felt himself misunderstood. When he had demanded
the ^elimination of the Imperial Factor* he had not referred to the
British flag or, in other words, to the idea of the British Empire
about which his romantic ideas had changed but little since his
early Oxford days. His scruples concerned only the unelastic, red-
taped stubbornness with which the Colonial Office conducted its
policy, scruples shared in the Cape by English and Dutch alike.

Warren set out from England with the intention of strengthen-
ing the "Imperial Factor' in South Africa by eliminating Kruger's
attempt at a hegemony of the Boers in South Africa and by
breaking the spirit of colonialism as defined by Rhodes.

Besides his political bias against Rhodes, Warren was jealous
of the more gifted man. As an ambitious soldier, Warren had set
himself to gain political successes which might lead to his nomina-
tion for the governorship of Bechuanaland or even, perhaps, to
sit one day in Cape Town as Governor of the Cape Colony and
Her Majesty's High Commissioner for South Africa. He saw in
Rhodes a danger which would rob him of the fame he expected
as saviour of Bechuanaland.

Before Warren could set his military machine into motion,
President Kruger, in order to remove even the faintest reason for
armed interference, went to Goshenland and warned the people
of the futility of resisting Warren's expedition by force. He
invited Warren to a friendly talk in an unofficial conference on
the border of the Transvaal and the Cape.

Though it had been agreed that both parties should be accom-
panied only by a personal escort, Warren proceeded to the
meeting with a military detachment. Kruger felt hurt by this
tactless demonstration of distrust. The President's anger increased
when he learnt of the presence of the Reverend Mr Mackenzie,
whom he held responsible more than Rhodes for cutting him off
from the North. The inclusion of a forceful antagonist of the
Boers was countered by Kruger when he set before his EngUsh

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RHODES OF AFRICA

guests the Reverend Mr Du Toit. There faced each other these two
professed heralds of Christian love as documented in the Sermon
on the Mount/ yet both ever ready in their blind chauvinistic
hatred to unfold the flag of war against whosoever opposed their
ideas of nationalism.

Many people came away from their first meeting with Kruger
with the impression of having looked upon the stone-monument
of a prehistoric man. The monumentality of his appearance made
one forget his grotesque ugliness. Each single feature of his face
seemed too small in proportion to his bulky body, six feet in
height and more than 200 pounds in weight.

One could not help being reminded of the Prophets of the Old
Testament. People have compared him to a composite picture of
Abraham Lincoln and Oliver Cromwell, with something of John
Bright around the eyes and Benjamin Franklin's mouth. Others
were reminded of Ulysses, General Bliicher, Bismarck. One
visitor confessed that his first thought on seeing Kruger was,
without blasphemy, 'That's Jehovah Himself!'

The cartoonists enjoyed themselves in making fun of the long
fringe of grey beard framing the dark-skinned face, with the
clean-shaven upper lip; the thick irregular brows above a pair of
dark, almost bkck eyes, flashing fearless eyes, whose smallness
and the sagacity which spoke from them recalled those of an
elephant; the large broad nose from which a system of deep
furrows spread criss-Cross over the whole face; the crude flat ears
in contrast to the finely shapen mouth which was mostly closed
tightly and opened only occasionally for a short benevolent smile
warming up the ugly granite face with the beautifying rays of
human sympathy. The cartoonists could not indicate in their
distorted portraits, the commanding power over men of his
sonorous bass voice. This voice captivated friend and foe. Simple
Boers admitted that to hear Oom Paul scold an audience terrified
them as if the Lord were speaking through his mouth.

No one who came in contact with him could fail to recognize
the dignity and nobility of his personality. There emanated from
him an almost hypnotic influence, making strangers and old
friends alike feel his magnetic power and strength.

The moral code of his life did not come to him by the easy way
of taking it over from father, teacher or preacher. As a mature

[98]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

married man, more than thirty years old, he retired for many days
into the solitude of the mountains and there battled with his God
for the purification of his conscience and the peace of his soul*
He came back a new man, blindly devoted to the tenets of the
strict Puritan Calvinistic doctrines of the Dopper Church.

In his faith he refused to compromise or exercise tolerance.
Since his religiosity directed his private and public life with equal
severity, his political views often contrasted amazingly with the
modern outlook. His adversaries maintained that he looked upon
conditions of the nineteenth century through slits; that he repre-
sented the anachronism of a seventeenth-century Calvinist in the
machine-age; that he applied the intolerant Mosaic eye-for-an-
eye-tooth-for-a-tooth laws as his policy against the Machiavellian
diplomacy of fin-de-stick politics; that he adhered too strictly to
his self-chosen motto *Wtes getrou, maar vertrou niemand* be
trustworthy but trust no one.

Among the pioneers who, after having conquered the perils of
a three-year trek, had settled in the country beyond the River Vaal
was the father of eleven-year-old Paul Kruger, and his family. As
a boy of twelve Paul had already had to take his stand, with a rifle
in his hand, fighting with his elders against the Natives and
shooting lions and elephants. There remained no time for learning
out of books. What he had to know in order to read the Bible, as
well as a little writing, was taught to him by his mother* These
pious people believed that all human knowledge was contained
in the Good Book. Further knowledge would only lead to
disbelief.

Next to the duty to his God came Kruger's determination to
preserve the personal independence of his people and the freedom
of their country. The ardent nationalism of the Boers was not an
artificial political instrument of chauvinistic imperialism like its
European version. The Boers considered themselves the masters
of the land for which they had paid with their own sweat and
blood, from which they had wrested every single corn-cob, for
which they still had to endure cruel hardships and privations.

Their patriotism had nothing in common with the abstract
nationalism with which governments intoxicate the masses in
order to make them forget that their country really belongs to the
privileged few and that they axe only tenants there. Every single
Boer realized that he and his brothers were the owners of their

[99]

RHODES OF AFRICA

country; that the soil on which he worked was his own, his in-
disputable property, and that the whole country was owned in the
same way by other free burghers and by no one else. His patriotism
was concrete; his own soil was his fatherland. When he was called
upon to defend his country, he took Ms own rifle, mounted his
own horse and fought for the sanctity of his own home, the safety
of his own family, the protection of his own property. The State
to him was not a political conception enforced on him, but a
practical co-operative society for mutual benefit. His nationalism
was not directed against any other country but was the expression
of his pride in his freedom, pride in Ms soil, pride in Ms personal
acMevements against odds.

Boers always had large families- Kruger's cMldren numbered
sixteen. To perpetuate the feudal system a father had to provide
sufficient land to be divided among Ms numerous sons. The time
had come when their own country no longer had sufficient fertile
land for their rapidly increasing numbers. Expansion beyond their
border became a necessity. There they would find sufficient and
good pastures. That it belonged to the Natives caused them no
scruples. They did not consider the Natives the lawful owners of
this land since most of the tribes had come down from Central
Africa and had taken it from the original inhabitants, the Hotten-
tots. They identified the Native as the 'Son of Ham' who according
to the Bible was cursed: *a servant of servants shall he be unto Ms
brethren*. Thus the Boers felt themselves justified in considering
these Sons of Ham as their 'hewers of wood and carriers of
water*.

Kruger's policy of trying to expand the Transvaal was thus
founded on the conceptions traditional to the Boers. Opposition
to tMs necessity of expansion was considered as wilfully aimed at
the extinction of the Boers. Britain had tried once already to
strangle them. Now, by cutting them off from access to the rich
pastures of the North and encircling them from all sides, the
death-sentence had been pronounced.

Sitting at the conference table, Ms eyes closed, Kruger was
playing with a ring. With difficulty he removed it from Ms finger,
passed it to Warren and pointed to the inscription: 'Take courage,
your cause is just and must triumph in the end/ The inner side
bore the figures 6,591: 587, indicating the results of a plebiscite
in the Transvaal against British rule in 1877. The ring had been

[100]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

presented to Kruger anonymously by c an English friend of the
Boers' during his visit to London in 1878.

Gesticulating menacingly with his pipe, Kruger shouted at the
stiff English general opposite him, * You are putting a ring fence
round me!' And referring to the London Convention he said with
a bitter smile, 'The Boers feel like a man whose clothing has been
taken away from him and then restored to him without his watch
and purse/

Warren was scarcely listening to Kruger's complaints. When
Kruger continued to plead, he hissed at him, *To find people
standing on the ground and insisting on their claims is to me
simply an act of rebellion/

Warren, though he did not take a very active part in the
negotiations, took care to prevent Rhodes from usurping the
leadership. Rhodes kept in the background as he first wanted to
study the old man. Kruger appealed to him as a *man of action'.
Were they not both filled with the same ideas, driving, at the same
aim, though each for his own country? His 'greatness in simplicity
and simplicity in greatness' made a deep impression on Rhodes.
The longer he watched the old man struggling to find justice for
his Boers by crushing the icy indifference of this haughty English-
man Warren, the more his sympathy grew for Kruger.

I began to acquire my admiration for Oom Paul, for had he not
conceived the noble scheme from his point of view, of seizing the
interior, of stretching his Republic across to Walfish Bay, of making
the Cape Colony hidebound, and of ultimately seizing Delagoa Bay,
and all this without sixpence in his Treasury?

I regard him as one of the most remarkable men in South Africa,
who has been singularly unfortunate- When I sec him in Pretoria
with Bechuanaland gone and other lands around him gone from his
grasp; and kst of all, when he with .his whole idea of a pastoral
republic, finds that idea vanishing, I pity that man, I cannot help
pitying him.

Rhodes considered it opportune to come to terms with the
President. He resorted to his new technique of approaching him
*on the personal'. It had no effect on Kruger. He now tried to
come to his aid in small matters against Warren. Kruger ignored
these overtures. It was obvious that he detested Rhodes whom he
knew to be responsible for all the trouble in Bechuanaland.

[10!]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Having been informed by Du Toit, Rhodes' severest enemy in
South Africa, about Rhodes' political development, Krager looked
upon him as the personification of Jingoism. Feeling that the
final round between Britain and Ms country had now begun,
with Rhodes as its driving force, he described Rhodes as 'the
curse of South Africa*. Asked for an explanation, he said:

This young man I like not; he goes too fast for me; he has robbed
me of the North. I cannot understand how he manages it, but he
never sleeps and he does not smoke. That young man will cause me
trouble if he does not leave politics alone and turn to something
else. Well, the racehorse is swifter than the ox, but the ox can draw
the greater loads. We shall sec.

The freebooters had given up all resistance. Their former
republics were now under British administration. The boundaries
had been freshly fixed by an agreement between Warren and
Kruger. No reason remained for military action. The High
Commissioner, the Cape Government, and particularly Cecil
Rhodes believed that Warren's mission had ended. Warren,
however, wanted to earn cheap military glory and a hitting
political success so as to make himself commendable for high
honours as the great South African statesman and military genius.

Warren set out to occupy Stellaland and Goshenland. He
cancelled all agreements made by Rhodes. Van Niekerk was
imprisoned. The boundaries were altered. All previously acknow-
ledged land-titles were deckred null and void. 'All Dutch Boers
and non-teetotallers' were excluded from acquiring land in
Bechuanaland. Martial kw was declared and the fighting chiefs
and their tribes reinstated in their former domains.

Rhodes saw all his work undone by an ambitious soldier who
had succumbed to the promptings of the militant parson, mouth-
piece of Exeter Hall, the Reverend Mr Mackenzie. Foaming with
fury, Rhodes asked for the recall of Mackenzie who had no
official status. He accused Warren of having deliberately broken
faith with the Stelkknders and Gosherutes by not keeping the
solemn promise given by Rhodes with Warren's consent.
Furiously Rhodes wrote in his report to the High Commissioner:

... I remember, when a youngster, reading in my English History
of the supremacy of my country and its annexations, and that there

[102]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

were two cardinal axioms that the word of the nations when once
pledged, was never broken, and that when a man accepted the
citizenship of the British Empire there was no distinction between
races. It has been my misfortune in one year to meet with the breach
of one and the proposed breach of the other.

Rhodes worked feverishly to avert further damage. The
General, feeling himself safe in his position under the blessings
and praises of Whitehall, now set out for Ms final stroke: to
remove the man who through his criticism and accusations was
impeding his actions and who might eventually rob him of his
glory* He demanded the recall of Rhodes on the grounds that he
was 'dangerous to the peace of the country 3 and that, until he
was removed, it was *not considered safe to move on*.

Rhodes resigned. He felt a loathing for the whole Becfauanaland
affair. . . . He had, without reward, wasted a whole year out of
his costly life over it; a period which he could have used more
profitably by looking after his business. He had fought for this
job at the risk of his political position and personal relationship
with, all sections of the country because he thought it would be
for the best interest of the country and of South Africa that the
territory should be British. . . . And all he had got was the offer
of a little brass medal which he had naturally to refuse ... all lie
had got was to be told by a crotchety, irritable General, the
representative of Her Majesty, that he was dangerous to the peace
of the country . . . dangerous to the peace of die country! . . He
should really not worry but let them stew in their own juice. . . .
The best would be to go on a trip round the world; perhaps it
would be better, as he had discussed it with Gordon , . . poor
Gordon now dead he could wish to have been with Mm there
discussed it with Gordon and later with Warren. Perhaps really
better to go home into politics and be elected to the House of
Commons. . . .

But Rhodes decided to continue. After all he had attained his
goal. The way into the heart of Africa was open, and in addition
the aspirations of the Transvaal for supremacy in South Africa
were broken for ever. However, Warren had antagonized the
Transvaal more than was necessary. Rhodes considered himself
completely innocent, having forgotten that he was the originator
of the Northern scheme. For what had happened now he blamed

RHODES OF AFRICA

Warren and Warren alone. He needed the goodwill of the
Transvaal, as he expressed in a speech after his return:

. . . The only possibility of the union [of South Africa], is our
being able to regard the inhabitants of the Transvaal just as we
regard our own fellow-colonists. ... It is with this idea that I went
into politics* This is what I have steadily advocated throughout my
political life ... I have kept this end steadily in view as the ultimate
goal of my politics.

In Sir Hercules Robinson he still had a strong ally. By writing
privately to a junior member of the British Cabinet to whom he
introduced himself as the brother of Frank who had been at Eton
with the recipient, he tried to influence Whitehall, particularly for
the removal of Warren:

Do not be led away by the assertion that I am pro-Dutch in my
sympathies. I had to consider the best mode of permanently checking
the expansion of the Boer republics into the interior. The only
solution I can see is to enclose them by the Cape Colony . . . and my
instructions have been that after asserting British supremacy the
course desired was Colonial annexation, against "which Warren has
agitated ever since he went into the country. . . . Conduct such as
Warren's is just heaping up future trouble' in this country and
destroying all chance of success for those who are working to cement
the two nationalities on the basis of true loyalty to the British flag.

At last he succeeded. Warren was recalled.

Under ttie final solution southern Bechuanaland came under
British administration for future transfer to the Cape, for which
Rhodes had to wait ten years. The North of Bechuanaland was
declared a British protectorate to be governed by its Native chiefs.

Rhodes continued to attack Warren after the General's return
to England. In a heated controversy between them in letters to
The Times Rhodes did not aim at the General 'so much for the
sake of revenge as to whitewash himself in British eyes from the
widely spread taint of being anti-British and pro-Boer, disloyal to
the Queen and an instrument of the Bond. Already at this stage
he bore in mind that for the fulfilment of his pkns he would have
to go to England for support and money. He thus needed an
unblemished name in Whitehall. At the same time he had to keep
English as well as Dutch voters in the Cape in good humour.

[104]

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

Diplomatically he therefore declared In Parliament that by *eliml~
nation of the Imperial Factor' he had really meant Ms belief in
'Colonialism*, but of course under the British flag.

At the same time he confessed:

*I came down to the House in 1881 a most rabid Jingo, but
I have since passed through the fire of Bechuanaland/

To President Kruger, sitting on the sfoep of his house in
Pretoria, his new State Secretary, young Dr Leyds, freshly im-
ported from Holland, read the strangely contradictory news of
Rhodes' oscillations between Imperialism and Colonialism. The
President drew heavily on his long-stemmed pipe. Interrupting
the reader he said slowly:

'Only four people I fear: God, the Devil, de la Rey for his
enormous strength and his quick tongue and daardie Engelsman
Rhodes!'

CHAPTER VII

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW

TH VERYONE in Kimbcrley knew Barney Barnato. Anywhere
.,0 else people would have stopped to look twice at the short
chubby man with the pink baby cheeks and the large black
piercing eyes which seemed never to be still; eyes which betrayed
an overflowing wealth of humour. The thin upper lip, partly
covered by a waxed and pointed reddish-brown moustache, the
massive protruding lower lip and a chin stretched forward
menacingly, gave warning of stapled energy and alertness. Longish
yellow-brown hair, carefully parted in the middle, accentuated the
chubbiness of the face to which a long broad nose and fleshy
projecting ears stood in grotesque contrast.

His clothes, one could see, came from an expensive tailor. The
loudness of the large-check tweed jacket and trousers, with the
low-cut red waistcoat and an enormous silk four-in-hand cravat
in all colours of the rainbow and held together by a large diamond
pin, gave evidence of great wealth rather than of good taste.

Strangers would take him for a 'bookie*. Here in Kimberley
not only was he known to everybody but they were all aware that
he, Barney Barnato, of the firm of Barnato Brothers, lord over
the Kimberley Mine, biggest property-owner in town, biggest
diamond merchant in the world, master of the 'Kaffir Circus* on
the London Stock Exchange, was the richest man in South Africa,

By the smile of self-satisfaction, by the heavy pompous walk
with which he idled along Market Square, one could easily
surmise that he enjoyed his importance.

Whoever passed him would take time at least to greet him with
a 'Hullo, BarneyP 'Goeie more y Barney!' *$chener tog for eich> BarneyP
Many would stop, merely to shake hands. For everyone Barnato
had a friendly word. People in need knew that they could always
appeal to him successfully, Barney Barnato understood the
language of poverty. Out of his waistcoat-pocket would come
a sovereign. Once he explained: *I always carry a stock of quids
in that pocket for the benefit of stony-brokes/

[106]

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW"

One March day in 1888 Barnato was in a less jocular mood
than usual. He smiled vacantly when greeting his friends in the
street. Anything wrong, perhaps, with 'Central*? How could
anything possibly be wrong with Kimberley's richest mining
company, the Kimberley Central Company, to which now
belonged the whole of the Kimberley Mine, when the shares
had soared within the last few weeks from 14 to 49? Barney's
company was worth 8 million. Something wrong? Ridiculous!

But Barney would not let himself be buttonholed. Sorry, old
chap, I'm in a hurry. Having lunch with Rhodes at the Kimberley
Club/

Just like Barney! It was only early morning but it seemed he
had to let them know that he had at last succeeded in crashing
those doors which had always been closed to him.

Barney Barnato was seized by an attack of stage-fright which
had already caused him a sleepless night. Today his future would
be decided. Tomorrow he would again be good old Barney,
liberally treating his old cronies to drinks in the bars, freely
distributing from his pocket big cigars which bore on their labels
his portrait with the Kimberley Mine in the background and the
words *La Flor de Barney Barnato'.

Petticoat Lane, the centre of London's East End ghetto for
the petty Jewish traders, had been his home. There, after leaving
school at fourteen, he had passed through the high school of
smartness in the commercial battle of life, selling every week-day
from a little hand-barrow all that a Jewish housewife needed for
her home and kitchen. But on Sundays, the great day in the 'Lane'
when the Yoks the sailors from the nearby East India Docks,
workmen from the neighbourhood hunting for a bargain and
even, out of curiosity, stolid citizens from the West End came
to market, Barnato acted as one of the spielers who with exuberant
glibness could sell almost anything at a good price no matter if
it was a headache powder, insecticide, toys, worthless "gold*
watches or bird-seed.

His father, Isaac Isaacs, had trained his two sons, Henry and
Barnett, well for early independence, and Harry and Barney soon
felt that life in the ghetto atmosphere of Whitechapel was too
boring and slow for them. Harry found a job as barman in the
'King of Prussia*, the rendezvous of music-hall artistes. Since
their earliest youth both boys had been enthusiastic about the

RHODES OF AFRICA

theatre. Acquaintances at the "King of Prussia* encouraged the
two boys to try their luck on the stage. They appeared In little
East End music-halls, as the 'Barnato Brothers', Harry as 'gentle-
man' in evening dress, as strong man, acrobat, juggler and teller
o smutty stories and Barney as his stooge in the make-up of a
down, presenting a pathetic figure in his clumsiness and helpless-
ness, due mostly to his short-sightedness.

When rumours of diamond finds were whispered in 'The Lane',
Harry was among the first who went to South Africa and Barney
followed soon afterwards. All that was left of his savings after
paying for his passage was less than fifty pounds. Barney arrived
at a bad time. His brother, like everyone else, had suffered under
the many slumps on the diamond market. Barney's training in
"The Lane' stood him in good stead. He bought and sold whatever
came his way. And when there was nothing to be sold Barney
earned money as a prise-fighter and once even appeared as a circus
clown.

When times improved, Barney associated himself \xdth another
young man., Louis Cohen, whose only asset, like his own, con-
sisted of tenacity, hope and good humour. With a few pounds
of their savings Barney and Louis Cohen established themselves
as kopje wallopers, wandering from one digging to another,
trying to find diggers who would entrust them with the sale of
their diamonds. Sometimes they even dared to buy on their own
account.

Barney Barnato, watching, listening and questioning, had not
wasted a minute since he came to Kimberley, learning everything
there was to be known about diamonds. His first big success came
through a horse. To the horror of his partner he paid 27 icxr.
for a half-starved shabby pony and a rickety old buggy which he
obtained from a diamond buyer who had 'made his pile' and was
going back home.

*I tell you, Louis, this blooming gee-gee, bless its panting little
heart, is a me^gia a bargainl*

He was right: without waiting for any directions from the
reins this equine caricature took him on its own from one digging
to the other, where he was made welcome as the successor to the
former buyer and obtained all his business. Now Barney could
move more freely. He took a tiny shop, a mere cubby-hole, in
Maloney's Bar. It cost a pound a day. Louis Cohen scolded him:

[108]

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW'

'You are mesbugge totally mad, Barney. You're mining us!*
Barney replied: 'Schmig stumm shut up, you scbkmieL Pm tired
of hoof-padding. Let the fellers come to us a for a change/ Again
Barney was right. Maloney's was the first bar on coming to town
from the claims. No digger would pass there without s liting his
elbow'.

The partnership did not last long. After a year Barney joined
his brother Harry.

Yet Barney, always a restless man, could not sit still in the
office and left that part of the work to Harry* He seemed never
to tire of making the rounds of the claims and having a friendly
chat with the diggers. They did not mind the interruption in their
work. It always meant a quarter of an hour of hearty laughter.
Cleverly he combined his humorous talents with business acumen
to profitable results. He knew, too, how to make everyone under-
stand that no liberties could be taken with him. As he once told
a friend:

Never let a feller wrong you without getting square, no matter
how long you wait; and never wrong a man if you can help it,
because he will wait his time to get back on you, and at the worst
possible moment. ... If you are going to fight, always get in the
first blow. If a man is going to hit you, hit him first and say: 'If you
try that, I'll hit you again!' It is no use your standing off and saying:
*If you hit me, I'll hit you back/ D'ye follow? D'ye understand?

His great moment came in 1876. Desperate nervousness had
seized Kimberley when the yellow ground became exhausted and
the blue soil yielded almost no results. Barnato had heard that
the Kimberley mines were old volcanoes. Knowing every turn
of the reef and every claim on the fields, he was convinced that
the diamonds came from deep below and that the deeper one
went, to where the pressure must have been greatest, the larger,
richer and better would be the finds. Barnato was 'determined to
go on until it broke me'. And, like Rhodes, he was prophetic
when he said that 'the blue ground was the true home of the

diamond'.

Barnato bought four claims in the best part of the Kimberley
Mine at a price of 3,000. Within a few weeks they yielded him
a weekly income of 1,800. Bamako's star wa$ rising. Such
meteoric ascent to wealth had to bring jealousy in its trail,

[109]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rumours went through town that these claims had only been
bought by Bamato as an artful dodge to screen his nefarious
dealings in I.D.B., Illicit Diamond Buying.

No longer was he cheered in the bars as 'Jolly old Barney'.
People ignored his friendly greetings. Old cronies avoided him.

Instead of being able to enjoy his rapidly increasing wealth
Barnato grew morose. Often these days he would repeat to him-
self and to others, 'If you are going to fight, always get in the
first blow. . . .* He bought more claims. He had come to the
conclusion that he would have to buy the six centre claims in
the Kimberley Mine in order to gain control over the whole. The
future, he realized, pointed to the industrialization of diamond
mining which would only be achieved through amalgamation.
With a capital of 115,000 he founded his own company; he
bought new claims; he increased the capital of his company which
paid 36 per cent in dividends. He amalgamated all the other
companies working in the Kimberley Mine into the Kimberley
Central Company. Only one company, the French Diamond
Mining Company, of which most of the shares were in French
hands, still remained outside. In the 'Centra?, as his company was
generally called, he was holder of the majority. It was admittedly
the richest mine in Kimberley, and Barnato the wealthiest man,
having made several millions in his financial transactions. With
the dexterity of a financial acrobat he operated on the world's
stock exchanges. If the London market was saturated he off-
loaded his new issues in Vienna, Amsterdam or Paris.

Gradually, and with the help of men of straw, he bought up
the shares of two companies, De Beers Central and Oriental,
which owned the best claims, right in the heart of De Beers Mine.
Without these two mines Rhodes would never be able to expand
or amalgamate. Rhodes had already cast his eyes on the two
mines, but not having the money on hand he thought that they
would no doubt one day fall into Ms lap. When in 1883 he was
ready to take them over, Rhodes was surprised to find that
Barnato owned them.

Though they lived a stone's throw from each other, the two
had never met. Tujmy little fellow, that Whitechapel prancer,'
said Rhodes. "Impossible person/ remarked Beit. *I hate the sight
of that scoundrel, 3 was Dr Jameson's comment.

'Send a message round to him to come and see me/ Rhodes

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST

said. *But in the office only, mind you* Don't want to be seen in
public with him, otherwise people will think we too have come
down to IJD.B. No doubt at a reasonable profit, he*U be glad to
sell these parcels/

Bamato replied that if there was something Mr Rhodes wanted,
would Mr Rhodes kindly come to see him.

Rhodes was amused. "This little blighter means business. Will
be a hard nut to crack/ Yet, to his amazement, Bamato offered
no resistance. He agreed with Rhodes that amalgamation was
essential at De Beers, just as in his Kimberley Mine. He stated Ms
price. Rhodes tried to bargain. With pointed politeness Bamato
answered that ever since he had left *The Lane' he had stuck
firmly to his prices. Within a few minutes the deal was concluded.
*Gunning fellow, this Barnato/ Rhodes said when he came home.

Bamato, though he could certainly have obtained a still higher
price, was determined* to oblige Rhodes in helping him to amal-
gamate the remaining companies in De Beers Mine. Only Rhodes
and he himself would then be left as the big mockers on the Fields
and they would have to come to an understanding to prevent
over-production and stop the fall in prices on the diamond market.

Rhodes had come to a similar conclusion. The diamond market
would have to be cleaned of irresponsible elements. He felt,
however, that an understanding between Barnato's group and his
own would be insufficient. The only solution was a diamond
monopoly through a complete amalgamation of die two groups
which would later easily absorb the few outsiders. It was no
doubt in his mind that he, Cecil Rhodes, would become the leader
of this monopolistic centralization of the diamond industry and
the diamond market which, when completed, would become the
biggest and most powerful private institution in South Africa,
a strong force influencing the future of the entire African conti-
nent. It would give him the social, political and financial standing
necessary for his future plans: to open up the North, to paint
Africa's map red. He wanted to secure the Diamond Fields only
as a *jumping~off place'.

Rhodes was worried about over-production. Since the intro-
duction of underground mining and mechanization De Beets was
able to produce up to one million carats a year. Barnato, whose
Kimberley Mine had always produced bigger yields, would pet-
haps double De Beers* output. Prices were sinking rapidly* He

[XII]

RHODES OF AFRICA

had asked e little Beit who had a flair for figures* how many men in
England and the United States were married per year. On the basis
of these figures and those of the average export of diamonds over
the last years, Rhodes discovered that regardless of the economic
position men would never spend more than 4 million annually
on diamonds on small stones when prices were high, on bigger
ones when low, but never exceeding that amount. Only a
monopoly would save the industry, by restoring high prices and
limiting production.

Rhodes lived, slept and worked with only the one thought of
a gigantic diamond monopoly corporation. In the middle of the
night he would come, half-dressed, drive Beit or Rudd out of
bed, throw himself into a chair and, stroking his chin nervously
with his right forefinger, shout in an excited, high-pitched voite:
*I have just hit on an idea that has been worrying me for weeks . . .*
And for hours he would talk about his plans.

Once a friend, Dr Sauer, found him sitting on a rock on the
edge of De Beers Mine, as if in a trance, staring into the deep
hole in which the workmen appeared like ants. What was he
thinking about? Pronouncing each word distinctly, Rhodes
replied:

*I was calculating the amount of blue ground in sight and the
power that this blue ground would confer on the man who
obtained control of it all/

Only one man stood in his way, 'that cunning little Jew,
Barnato*. He was the only man in South Africa whom he feared,
Barnato's path ran along the same lines as his own. One day they
would clash. Either they would have to go along the road
together or one of them would have to step aside.

How was he to approach Barnato? To c take him on the personal*
would perhaps flatter one in whom, in spite of all his millions,
there certainly remained enough of Whitechapel to lap up any
kindness bestowed on him. At their first dealings he had fallen
for it. An invitation was sent to Barnato to meet Rhodes in
Dr Jameson's house. Barnato knew of Jameson's raving dislike
for him and had tried several times unsuccessfully to be on
friendly terms with the doctor.

The meeting went off contrary to Rhodes* expectations. It was
a very determined Barnato, obviously fully aware of his strong
position, who sat opposite him, smiling benignly and completely

[112]

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW*

obdurate. He would not even enter Into discussions on the value
of the Kimberley Mine or on the price of Central shares. He
replied calmly: Mr Rhodes knows as well as I do that Kimberley
Mine can produce yearly, even under the worst management,
twice as many diamonds as the whole world would be able to buy,*

Rhodes saw the threat in his words. Bamato could bring down
the price still further and would still be making a profit. He tried
again. Finally, as if bored with Rhodes' repeated pressure to name
a price, Barnato exclaimed: 'The value of the Kimberley Mine,
why it's worth three times what De Beers is worth/

Only with difficulty could Rhodes restrain himself from show-
ing his disappointment. It would mean war now, battle to the
knife. Though different in many respects from himself, he had a
liking for Barnato, and at the same time he was afraid of him,
because he felt Barnato's superiority when it came to financial
operations. Rhodes was never a financier and had never learnt the
art of building up a sound financial structure for his various big
enterprises. He was by nature a speculator, a financial adventurer
an imaginative punter. For an idea Rhodes would venture every-
thing: his fortune, his whole personality, his future. He did not
ask about and was not at all concerned with such 'details* as
whether his actions corresponded with the accepted moral and
legal standards. He felt himself above good or evil. Rhodes
believed in his visions, his instincts, his mission. He took everyone
who stood between him and his aims as a personal enemy. Soon
he imagined that he was surrounded by enemies, It was true that
Rhodes* unpopularity increased in proportion to his success. His
ruthlessness, his abruptness, his overbearing haughtiness, his
cynicism expressed in acid sarcasms and his proverbial tactlessness
and apparently inhuman indifference, gave people a low opinion
of Rhodes as a man. Some admired him as an outstanding expert
on all questions concerning diamonds. The larger number envied
him for his success and said that he had merely been luckier than
others. Those who hated lAm for having 'pushed them out of
their luck' or for 'letting nobody else make a living in Kimberiey*
were at that time in the majority.

Rhodes' vanity was hurt by the antagonism displayed towards
him. He now saw an enemy in everyone. Though his unpopu-
larity was in most cases due to his voluntary seclusion from the
outside world, he avoided people still more. His shyness, bom

RHODES OF AFRICA

out of a feeling of insecurity and inferiority, the fear that one
wrong step could hurl him back into the abyss of anonymity,
caused him to live in a friendless vacuum. His ideas, his plans,
his future, was all that counted and everything for which he was
striving could be summed up in the one word, Power; the instru-
ment with which to obtain it, Money. To General Gordon he
had explained:

If one has ideas, one cannot carry them out without wealth to
back them. I have therefore tried to combine the commercial with
the imaginative, and up to the present Fve not failed.

It was certainly no pose when he indicated that money, even
great wealth, in itself never satisfied him. To him money was
equivalent to power, as he repeatedly expressed it in his naive,
primitive way:

Money is power, and what can one accomplish without power?
That is why I must have money. Ideas are no good without money.
, . . For its own sake I do not care for money. I never tried it for its
own sake but it is a power and I like power. ... I want the power
let who will wear the peacock's feathers.

Most of Rhodes' business decisions were dictated by intuition,
unlike Barnato, who relied exclusively on knowledge.

Rhodes came to Kimberley to gain wealth; Barnato to find
security and social improvement. The fact that Rhodes was aware
of his social superiority became evident during the meeting with
Barnato, though he tried hard to conceal it by an enforced
amiability. Barnato had no illusions about Rhodes' low opinion
of him, Beit's badly disguised contempt, or Dr Jameson's obvious
disgust.

When he returned from the meeting he first swallowed a large
gulp of brandy, before telling his nephew and junior partner,
Woolf Joel, what had happened: they had 'grovelled' before him,
with their *sweet talky-talk' had given him champagne with porter,
tihtdb: favourite booze, in the belief that they would easily be able
to 'take a rise* out of him who in their eyes was still a nobody,
an outcast a bloody East End Jew-boybut for all their 'soft
sawder' they weren't able to pull wool over his short-sighted
'peepers*. They just gave him a 'sickener'.

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW*

Deep in thought he added, more seriously:

'Rhodes looks down on me because I have no education
never been to college like him. ... If I had received the education
of Cecil Rhodes, there would not have been a Cecil Rhodes/

Rhodes had not impressed him when he tried to show off by
quoting Greek poetry. There was, however, someiMng undefin-
able about Rhodes which attracted him. He felt a kindred spirit
in Rhodes whose existence, he thought, was animated by the same
desire to reach the top, to let the world feel the pull of his money.
And in this typically English gqy y just as in himself, this aim
pulsated so strongly that he pursued his schemes ruthlessly and
forcibly. Only, where in Rhodes one spoke of ^financial ingenuity'
and ^unavoidable hardships necessitated by economic exigencies',
the same methods in his own case were labelled 'dirty tricks* or the
^pettifogging sharp practices of Whitechapel'. Bamato could not
help liking Rhodes. He was at least an opponent with whom the
battle became an exciting game. Rhodes had made some allusions
to his plans in the North. He still had to laugh when he thought of
Rhodes' *crack-pot schemes'. Was Rhodes meshugge that he wanted
to waste his kosher money taming savage Natives in a country
where a lion waits for you at every corner to serve for its break-
fast? Without doubt, Rhodes was a bit 'dotty'. Those staring blue
eyes could sometimes give you the creeps. . . .

The fight was on. Rhodes had told Barnato that he would push
him out of the Kimberley Mine by acquiring the majority of
Central shares. Beit was shocked at this method of letting one's
opponents in on one's future plans, but Rhodes believed ia
playing with open cards. He explained:

*I find in life it is far better to tell the town-crier exactly what
you are going to do and then you have no trouble/

The trouble, however, soon started. Rhodes raised his arm to
strike his first blow. Like a general he had planned his campaign.
He was not yet able to aim at Barnato's Central, but he could
harass him by curbing his further expansion. Still one independent
mine, adjoining Barnato's mines, remained in the Kimberley
Mine. Rhodes negotiated with the proprietor but in the last
minute he was outbid by Sir Donald Currie, a wealthy shipowner,
who also had the intention to amalgamate. Rhodes did not give
up easily. He sent two of his friends to Cape Town to offer Currie

RHODES OF AFRICA

a reasonable profit on these shares. Currie was on the point of
embarking for England. 'Follow him on the same ship/ was
Rhodes' order. Currie was not disinclined to accept the offer and
buoyed up Rhodes' agents. When the ship stopped in Madeira,
Currie received by cable from Kimberley the latest share prices,
which were much higher than those offered by Rhodes. He told
the agents in not too parliamentary language what he thought of
Mr Rhodes' business methods. When informed of the reason for
the breakdown of the negotiations Rhodes manipulated the
market so as to bring these shares down to a price below his
original offer. Now, he thought, old Currie would be only too
glad to get rid of them at the old price. Currie, however, was
informed simultaneously of Rhodes' market manoeuvres. His
language once again was very outspoken when he declined to
have any further dealings with Rhodes.

Rhodes was beaten. He had learnt one more lesson: it was
easier to pick up diamonds in Kimberley than to pick the pockets
of millionaires. He consulted 'Little Beit'. He negotiated once
more, secretly, with Barnato. But Barney had become even more
obdurate, laughing at all offers and continually making dark
allusions to a very big stock of "beauties of diamonds' kept in
reserve for the 'psychological moment'. Rhodes' nerves snapped.
He shouted at Beit: 'One can never deal with obstinate people until
one gets the wfcip-hand of them. The only thing we have to do to
secure success for our industry is to get control of Kimberley
Mine *

Barnato had announced his decision to introduce Central shares
on the London Stock Exchange. Quick action was necessary.
Rhodes had already acquired one-fifth of the issued Central shares
by pledging his own De Beers shares. Now his own means were
exhausted. He explained to Beit that in order to buy sufficient
Central shares they would have to have at their disposal 2-3

million;

A big undertakingl If one can only have the pluck to undertake
it, one must succeed. Don't let us go to the shareholders. If we fail,
they can only make us personally liable. . . . But where's the money
to come from where* s the money to come from the money to
come from?

After a dramatic pause Beit turned to Rhodes and, swaying

[n6]

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW*

nervously from side to side in his easy-chair, from which his
crossed legs did not quite reach the ground, said;

'Oh, well get the money if we can only buy the shares.'

Beit had good connections with the London House of Roths-
child. He discussed the matter with their representative in
Kimberiey, an expert mining engineer, suggesting that he would
first buy the French company, thus encroaching on the Kimberley
Mine. Rhodes, with freshly awakened optimism, had no doubt
that the Rothschilds would jump at the plan, and took their help
so much for granted that he set out for London without waiting
for Rothschild's reply.

In August 1887, in high spirits, he opened the door to New
Court in London City, where a simple plate indicated the premises
of N. M. Rothschild & Sons, Merchants, He lost a good deal of
his courage when he found that it was not as easy as he had
expected to see His Lordship Nathaniel Mayer, first Baron
Rothschild, even if one was Cecil J. Rhodes from Kimberley. He
was received with icy politeness by one of His Lordship's
managers in the drab atmosphere of dusty soKdity which ruled
in these dark offices where everyone whispered as if in the House
of the Lord. Rhodes was told that the matter was under considera-
tion by the House's experts. This cold shower did not unnerve
him entirely. He would have to have their decision soon, no,
immediately, and so he told the almost flattened Stock Exchange
high priest in trembling descant:

'Sir, 1*11 call again in half an hour. If you are not ready with
your answer then, I shall go elsewhere.'

Rhodes had nowhere else to go, of course. But his crude bluff
was effective. Lord Rothschild was interested in having a look at
a digger from South Africa who had dared to threaten with raised
voice the House of Rothschild and had set it a time-limit. But he
would have to wait until the matter had been thoroughly investi-
gated by the experts of the firm. Rothschild regarded this business
not as an investment but as a preliminary step towards amalgama-
tion and monopoly. After a short time Rothschild asked Rhodes
to visit him again in order to clear a few points and when
Rhodes was at the door he heard Lord Rothschild say to his
assistant:

'You may tell Mr Rhodes, that if he can buy the French
Company, I think I can raise the million pounds sterling.'

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes left New Court in triumph: the House of Rothschild,
*the Bankers of Kings and the Kings of Bankers', had become his
ally a 'sometimes pulled and anxious ally 5 , as Lord Rothschild
kter described the connection.

Losing no time, Rhodes made a substantial offer to the directors
of the French Company to acquire all shares, which, after long
bargaining, they accepted with the provision that an extraordinary
meeting of shareholders should agree to it. Before the meeting
was convened Barnato, as one of the principal shareholders,
having learnt of Rhodes' offer, bid 300,000 more for the
company. Barney Barnato would not allow himself to be pushed
aside as easily as all that. 'If you are going to fight, always get

in the first blow 'He indicated to Rhodes that he would pay

even more and intended to outbid him to the last.

For Rhodes there was more at stake than the French Company:
his reputation with the Rothschilds. They were already anxiously
inquiring about the delay.

Since it was Rhodes' belief that there was no one in the world
with whom it was not *as easy to deal with as to fight 9 , there was
no reason why it should not be possible with Barney Barnato.
One would have to try it again, either "on the personal' or simply
by 'squaring' him.

They met once more. Barnato came well prepared. In a suitcase
he had brought with him a large selection of the finest diamonds
which the Central Company kept in reserve. When he saw them,
Rhodes would understand what great power Barnato could wield
if he were to sell them on the market cheaply. He spread them
ou t a collection worth well over a million pounds.

Talking like a Sunday School teacher to a sulky schoolboy,
Rhodes poured forth tirades about cutting each other's throats
through Barnato's obstinate interest in the French Company.

Barnato, however, could not be taken 'on the personal'. Rhodes
took out his cheque-book:

'Now, Barnato, you just tell me how much it is worth for you
to give up your obstruction against the French Company coming
under my control. Name your figure, man!'

'No, Mr Rhodes. If I could see your scheme would be for the
benefit of the shareholders in the French Company I would never
have objected to it.'

'Well, if you will withdraw your opposition I will give you

[H8]

Barney Barnato

The cheque drawn by De
Beers for the acquisition of
the assets of the Central
Company in liquidation

'ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW*

a cheque to cover all that you think you lose by allowing my
offer to pass.'

*No s that won't do. It would put me all right, but what about
the shareholders in the French Company? 5

Should one shout at him to stop that bloody nonsense of silly
talk or burst out laughing in his face? Imagine that cunning little
fellow all of a sudden discovering a conscience in his bosom!
Rhodes, however, soon realized that Barnato was quite serious in
his attitude. A break with Barnato had to be avoided. He squinted
at the side-table where Barnato's numerous parcels of diamonds
lay. Barnato could and would upset the whole market for years
by their sale.

Rhodes made another suggestion. Seeing that Bamato was not
willing to withdraw his protest against Rhodes* taking over the
French Company, Rhodes was prepared to pass all his shares in
that company to Barnato at the original price and would not even
ask for cash but accept payment in Central shares.

Barnato, of course, saw the trap. Rhodes, however, was not
the macber in this game but only the dummy of the Rothschilds.
With the Rothschilds one would have to keep on good terms
and what was wrong with having the House of Rothschild as
shareholders in one's company? Then nothing would ever go
wrong the Rothschilds are like guardian angels in time of need.
The French Company in his possession would remove the last
outsider from the Kimberley Mine. Now he would be able to
work more economically through mechanization and produce
diamonds at a cost of less than six shillings. If he wished, he
might sell a carat at the price of even fifteen shillings and still
make a good profit. He must mention that to Rhodes and show
Mm his diamonds. But first let this deal be finished with. That he
would not have to pay cash for the French Company suited him
very well. A real godsend. He would need all his money, every
single stiver very soon. Gold was being found in the Transvaal,
he had heard. One must be prepared for such a case. All right,
let Lord Rothschild come and buy some of his Central shares. He
will be welcome.

Rhodes was surprised at Bamato's quick acceptance and
naively believed that he had tricked Barnato. Barnato, on the
other hand, was convinced that he had made the better bargain.
In one point, however, he was mistaken: the Rothschilds were

RHODES OF AFRICA

not interested in Ms shares and were acting merely as financing
agents for Rhodes and his partners.

After the deal was signed, Barnato showed Rhodes his dia-
monds. *Only a part of our reserve stock/ he said proudly and
with obvious malice. Rhodes opened one parcel after the other
and looked silently at the stones. With expert eyes it did not take
him long to realize that these diamonds represented the acme of
quality that the Fields could produce.

*Have you ever seen a bucketful of diamonds, Barney?' (The
*aintiing little Jew 5 had suddenly become 'Barney' to him.) e lt has
always been a dream of mine to see a bucketful of diamonds. . . .
I'm sure that's a bucketful lying here on the table . . . certainly
... a bucketful here on the table. . . . Shall we try, Barney? Think
of it, a bucketful of diamonds. . . . One is really tempted to try. . . .'

And before Barnato realized what was happening, Rhodes had
brought a bucket and quickly poured the diamonds from their
tissue wrappings into the vessel, filling it almost to the brim.
With flushed face, his eyes half closed in rapture, he buried his
hands in the precious stones and let them glide through his
fingers.

He seemed to have been completely carried away and almost
started when he heard Barnato's voice:

*A good show, isn't it? Could De Beers do as much?'

*No, De Beers could never have done it.'

This time Rhodes scored over Barnato: he knew that to sort
and value these stones anew would take several weeks. Only to
gain time had Rhodes staged this little comedy.

Every day now counted* A battue-hunt for Central shares had
been started by RJhodes, In Kimberley, London, Paris, Berlin,
Vienna and Amsterdam, Beit had instructed his brokers to buy
up every single Central share coming on the market, no matter
at what cost. Rhodes had scraped together every single penny.
Beit contributed 250,000 to the battle-fund and the Rothschilds
were willing to put 2-3 million at their disposal. Now he was
starting to get the whip-hand of 'that obstinate little donkey'.

Rhodes enjoyed the drive whole-heartedly. There were 176,592
Central shares of a nominal value of 10 each which constituted
the original capital of Central. The shares were quoted at 14
when Rhodes began to buy. More than half of the issued
capital was in the hands of Barnato and his friends. Rhodes at the

[120]

C ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW*

beginning owned one-fifth. His stock increased from day to day
though at rapidly mounting prices.

Barnato now also started to buy In order to ward off Rhodes*
attack. Soon he noticed that he was buying shares secretly sold
by his friends who were tempted by the dizzy offers. Rhodes
observed the same thing: several of Ms friends thought it wiser
to cash in on a quick profit before It became too kte. Ever-correct
Wernher, Beit's partner, who was acting as Rhodes' agent, was
becoming worried about the big engagements of his firm in
Central shares. When Beit one day reported the purchase of
another krge amount of Centrals he feared that his partner would
reproach him. But Weraher reassured him: 'Oh, that's all right.
I found the firm was more involved in these shares than I liked,
so I have sold a lot at excellent prices.*

Barnato went on buying but when the shares reached a quota-
tion of 40 per share, four times their original price, tie was
convinced that they had exceeded their true value. He now began
slowly to sell himself, at the same time driving the price up to
.45 , If these cbochems these wise chaps he thought, want to
have my Kimberley Mine let them pay through the nose for the
pleasure. . . . He kept quite a large number so that he would still
have a say when it came to the funeral. And, besides-^ he had
been clever enough to retain his Founders' Preference shares
without which they could do nothing.

When Rhodes had more than 100,000 out of the 170,000 odd
shares at his command, he thought the time had come to sound
the gong, though Barnato had by no means been knocked out.

To flatter Barnato's vanity, who, he knew, suffered under his
'bubble reputation', Rhodes had invited him to the Kimberley
Club. It was not easy to become a member there. Jews were
generally excluded.

They retired to a private room. Everything seemed to go
smoothly. Batnato had given up all resistance, and the financial
side was settled to their mutual satisfaction. There was only one
point, about which they could not come to an agreement. Rhodes
insisted on bringing into the deed of trust of the future company,
which was to amalgamate the Kimberley and De Beers companies,
Ms 'cranky ideas* as Barnato called them. 'What has a diamond-
mining company/ he asked excitedly, *to do with . . . now listen:

RHODES OF AFRICA

"anywhere In the world construct, maintain and operate tram-
ways, railways, roads, tunnels, canals, gasworks, electric works,
etc.?" . . . and now listen: "acquire tracts of country in Africa or
elsewhere * . . and expend thereon any sums deemed requisite
for the maintenance and good government.'* . . . No, no, I'm.
not interested in Mr Rhodes' painting the map of Africa red with
our money, the only purpose of which was and is and for
which it was entrusted to me by the shareholders to dig for
diamonds. . . .*

They went on to Dr Jameson's house, where they could speak
more freely. Midnight had passed. Rhodes put his hand on
Barnato's shoulder, looked him straight in the eye and said:
'Listen, Barney, I want to make a gentleman of you. I'll see and
I can guarantee you almost that I'll have you elected to Parliament
for Kimberley as the representative of the Diamond Industry, I'll
back you personally. . . . And I'll have you made a member of
the Kimberley Club. . . .*

Barnato softened. He willingly agreed to a clause *to guard
against the adoption of any unwise policy,' that he and Rhodes
as well as Beit and a representative of the Rothschilds be nomi-
nated Life Governors and Directors of the company, which was
to be styled De Beers Consolidated Mines with a capital of over
^zj million. It was a profitable position, as Life Governors
received 15 per cent of the profits of the company, which was to
bring them each a yearly income of 300,000 to 400,000 for many
years, until this royalty was abolished by a payment in De Beets 5
shares worth several million pounds.

In the morning, after fifteen hours' discussion, Barnato
declared:

'Well, Rhodes, some people have a fancy to one thing, some
to another. You want the tneans to go North, if possible, and
I suppose we must give them to you.'

When Barnato came home, exhausted, he sat up with his
nephew Joel to review the events of the previous hours. As if to
render account to himself, he said almost in a whisper:

'There is no other man who lives in the world who could have
induced me to have gone in with him in the amalgamation; but
Rhodes has an extraordinary ascendancy over men, and he gets
men to do almost anything he likes. No one would believe it at
first, but he roped me in as he ropes in everyone else. Of course,

[122]

C ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW*

I don't mean to say I did not make good terms with him, but
I had always been so much opposed to the amalgamation that I
was surprised myself at being able to come to terms at all. But
that's Rhodes* way. Somehow or other you find it Impossible to
stand out against him, and so you come in with him and find it
to your profit to do so. You can't resist him: you must be with.
him! 5

Difficulties arose when some minority shareholders of Central
objected to the amalgamation on the grounds that De Beers had
in its deed of trust so many strange propositions that did not
correspond with the tasks of a mining company. The case was
fought out at the Supreme Court. In a judgment against amalga-
mation it was declared of the new company that it 'can do
anything and everything and since the time of the East India
Company no company had had such power as this. . . /

Rhodes in consequence had to place the Central Company in
liquidation and acquire its assets. It was a loss merely of time and
concerned only a small minority of shareholders. Upon amalga-
mation the owners of Central who agreed had received for one
of their 10 Central shares two 5 De Beers shares plus z ios
in cash. De Beers shares at that time had reached a maximum
price of 49 after they had changed hands at only 15 four
months before.

Rhodes had predicted on the day of amalgamation that the
price would soon go down:

'And tonight they'll talk it all over with their wives and
tomorrow they'll all sell like hell.' And in fact, the following
week the shares were down to 38.

One of the shareholders buttonholed Rhodes with the words:
*I hear, Mr Rhodes, you have settled Central on the basis of two
De Beers shares for one Central* May God forgive you, Mr
Rhodes, but I never can/

The Kimberley Central shares had cost De Beers more than
.3 million to acquire. For the poorer mines, formerly described
by Rhodes as 'those mines that are too rich to leave and too poor
to pay, which were once to me what I might call spectres of the
night', he had to pay more than z million before he had full
control over the entire Kimberley diamond industry and 90 per
cent of the world's diamond production.

["3]

RHODES OF AFRICA

In order to control the sale of diamonds Rhodes, with some of
the biggest diamond merchants* had founded the Diamond
Syndicate in London. The first contract for five years amounted
to 25 million* When negotiations became difficult over a dif-
ference concerning 5,000, Rhodes cabled: 1 thought I was
dealing with diamond merchants, not retail grocers/

The price of diamonds, after amalgamation, went up to thirty
shillings per carat. De Beers had to watch that supply and demand
should balance. In the De Beers office a wooden box measuring
two feet by nine inches was kept in a heavy safe. As soon as this
box was filled production was stopped immediately. The little
wooden box yielded the shareholders a yearly dividend of at least
z million and up to 4 million.

Rhodes' financial position improved proportionately. From De
Beers alone he received in dividends and fees an annual income
of 300,000, later mounting to half a million. With the various
share dealings and the foundation of the new company, and the
Diamond Syndicate, he had made a large fortune. Counting the
shares in his possession alone, he was worth several million
pounds.

Neither the Board of Directors nor the auditors and his
colleagues could prevent Rhodes from considering himself lord
and master over De Beers. Board meetings were to him nothing
but a nuisance of a formality. He would always arrive late, glance
at the agenda and in a few sentences give his opinion, ending with
these words addressed to the secretary: C I think we are all agreed
about that. . . / And so he would hurry through point after point
until at the end of the last item he would jump up from his chair
and, already at the door, would murmur: 'That's all for this
morning, I think. Good morning, gentlemen.* Before anyone
could open his mouth, he was out of the room.

After amalgamation Rhodes introduced the compound system
in order to break I.D.B., the only leak in his otherwise watertight
monopoly. The Natives, employed on the 'floors', where the
dried diamondiferous soil was washed, carried away, undetected
by even the most careful supervision, more diamonds than they
left behind. Rhodes considered it better to buy these diamonds
at a low price from the Natives than to let them fall into the
ckws of the I.D.B. vultures. Thus De Beers was buying through
agents the bulk of their own diamonds from their own Natives.

ALWAYS GET IN THE FIRST BLOW

The white workmen, though well paid, soon became dissatis-
fied with the changed conditions after amalgamation* After most
of the smaller mines had closed and mechanization had replaced
a great number of hands, it became more difficult to find work and
employers were less easily amenable to their demands. Demon-
strations, instigated by a kind of trade union, the 'Knights of
Labour*, at which several window-panes were smashed, were
directed against Rhodes. They blamed for the loss of their jobs
and their present misery *the existence and domination of one
greed, Monopoly, one giant Corporation, as well as the over-
weening greed and ambition of one wealthy, overestimated,
disappointed politician*.

Among many employees as well as among the inhabitants of
Kimberley a deep hatred was fermenting against Rhodes. The
dissatisfaction was aggravated by a feeling of being constantly
watched in their jobs as well as in their private lives by De Beers*
secret agents. These agents had not only to prevent I.D.B. but
also to report on the political activities of the staff.

Very often Rhodes was blamed for measures against the work-
men of De Beers of which he did not even know. He had given
instructions to the managers to exercise the greatest economy.
Once a deputation of miners complained about a reduction in
their wages. Among them were many men whom Rhodes had
known in his earliest Kimberley days. He told them that they
would in future be paid at the old rate and that their reduction
would be refunded to them. Rhodes was furious. He stormed
into the board-room where the managers were just assembled.
Without a word of greeting he shouted:

*If we are going to cut, begin at the top. Fm paying you people
a thousand a year, and for what? Cut by all means, but begin at
the top . . . and begin now. And my picture is hanging on the
wall of this room gazing down on you bastards. . . . Give me
a knife . . . give me a knife. . . .*

And, in a towering rage, Rhodes cut the painting to pieces.

CHAPTER VIII

THE FAT OF THE LAND

ryio WARDS the middle of 1886 gold was found in the district
JL of the Witwatersrand, the Ridge of the White Waters, thirty
miles from the Transvaal capital, Pretoria. An exodus took place
from Kimberley.

Scenes of the early Kimberley days were repeated. A town of
tents, tin-shanties and wooden boxes grew up overnight. It was
called Johannesburg.

It immediately became obvious, however, that mining gold on
the Rand confronted diggers with a proposition different from
early conditions in Kimberley. For dealing with the hard rock of
the Rand a miner had to know something about blasting and had
to have a crushing plant and stamp batteries. Gold-mining
demanded considerable financial resources.

The Kimberley magnates at first found that they would have to
finance this new venture on the Rand by themselves. London City
bankers and speculators considered all gold finds with the utmost
suspicion. The Times opened its columns to warnings that 'bonafide
investors should be very cautious ... as fully 75 per cent of the
properties . . . may be accurately described as "bubbles" 5 .

Among the first who had received information about the gold
finds was J. B. Robinson. Unfortunately he happened at the
moment to be c stony-broke ? and, much to his disgust, had to ask
Alfred Beit for financial assistance for partnership in the new
venture. Out of loyalty Beit offered Rhodes half his share. Rhodes
showed no interest. Only after long persuasion did he agree to
send one of his friends, Hans Sauer, a young medical practitioner,
to the Rand. Sauer, like many other doctors in South Africa,
knew something about geology.

Dr Sauer went to the Rand in the same coach as Robinson.
Robinson assured the doctor that he was on his way to Pretoria
to buy wool. Dr Sauer retaliated by telling him that he was on
his way to spend a holiday with an aunt.

The young doctor carried in his pocket-book a cheque from

THE FAT OF THE LAND

Rhodes for 200* This trifling amount, reluctantly handed over,
turned out to be the best investment Rhodes ever made. Saner
secured options on several farms situated on the most promising
side of the suspected run of the Reef.

Upon Sauer's return to Kitnberfey his impassioned report was
received with little enthusiasm by Rhodes. Rhodes reproached
him for the 'extravagance of having wasted twenty to thirty
pounds on some options* and refused to refund him for the
outlay, Beit's offer to enter into partnership with him and
Robinson, Rhodes refused point-blank. Anything connected with
the 'Buccaneer* he would not touch.

Beit's vivid interest and activities on the gold-fields alarmed
him. He told Rudd: *It will never do to let Beit forget that his
diamond interests are calling him. If Beit becomes too deeply
involved in this gold business I may risk losing his support,
which I absolutely need, for the fulfilment of my dreams in the
North and the acquisition of the political power that 1 must have
behind me when the moment arrives. . . /

Being in the middle of his battle of amalgamation, Rhodes
resisted with might and main being dragged into a new venture*
Kimberley and its diamonds had become part of himself. De
Beers was his creation. He was attached to it like a mother to her
child whose birth had almost killed her. Gold, in contrast, had
no meaning for Rhodes. Each diamond possessed a life in itself,
an individuality, a personal destiny. Gold cold metal could
not inspire his imagination.

In these days Rhodes stood for hours staring at his old crumpled
map of Africa, now almost faded in the piercing African sun. He
did dream of gold but of Africa's real source of gold, the Gold of
Ophir, the Queen of Sheba's gold-mines. He was convinced that
the reef on the Rand was only a branch of a lode, an offshoot of
the true goldfields WL Mashonaland and Matabeleland.

That these gold-fields of the Rand should be situated in the
Transvaal, in Paul Kruger's domain, only thirty miles from the
old President's residence, vexed Rhodes considerably. Overnight,
the Transvaal had been reborn as an important factor in South
Africa. Should he, Rhodes, invest money and become dependent
on Meneer Kruger and his Boers' goodwill?

Only reluctantly, and after two days' persuasion, did Rhodes
set out for Johannesburg together with Dr Sauer and Rudd. His

["7]

RHODES OF AFRICA

humour did not Improve when he saw that Beit, Robinson.
Barnato, and many others who had made money in Kimberley,
had invested large amounts in buying claims or whole farms all
round the new township.

Rhodes became still more sceptical when Gardner Williams,
the able and shrewd expert whom the Rothschilds had charged
with the investigations, told him: Tf I rode over these reefs in the
States, I would not get off my horse to look at them/

Sauer had procured for the sum of 250 an option on a large
portion of the main reef which would have made him the biggest
and richest gold-producer in the world, Rhodes hesitated. To
buy this rocky land would mean a speculation which might,
perhaps, endanger the fulfilment of his plans in the North.

Rhodes was in a bad mood. He was tired from the uncomfort-
able ride in the express coach. He looked at the grey rock,
stroking his chin nervously with his right forefinger. His eyes
roamed slowly over the hills. As if speaking to himself, he told
Dr Sauer:

*It is all very well; but I cannot see or calculate the power in
these claims. . . . When I am in Kimberley and have nothing
much to do, I often go and sit on the edge of De Beers mine, and
I look at the blue diamondiferous ground . . . and I reckon up
the value of diamonds in the blue and the power conferred by
them. In fact, every foot of blue ground means so much power.
This I cannot do with these gold-reefs/

Therein lay the contrast between the aims, mentality and
purpose of Rhodes and those of all the other fortune-hunters
engaged In disembowelling the African soil. They all desired
only to make money to satisfy their greed* Money to them meant
an elevated social position, luxury, escape from a cloudy past,
a confirmation to themselves and to the outside world of their
superiority. Rhodes did not aspire to any of these primitive
ambitions. Such desires were marketable commodities within
easy reach of any money-bag. He wanted to turn his money into
power; power over entire countries and their inhabitants; power
over the destiny of masses; to be a supreme law unto himself and
to others ... to be like the great Roman emperors who set out
as simple generals to conquer new lands and came back a Caesar,
a God. . . . Money had first to be condensed into power before it
was of use to Cecil Rhodes. And for this purpose money had to

[128]

THE FAT OF THE LrANB

flow In without the fear of outside interference. To dig for gold
would mean to fight.

Before he was able to come to a definite decision., a telegram
brought him news of a crisis in the illness of Ms young friend and
secretary Neville Pickering who had been bed-ridden for some
time. Pickering had been Rhodes* constant companion and on
whom he had bestowed more confidences than on anyone else.

Rhodes' face turned grey when he read the message. He inter-
rupted a discussion about the Tarious options procured through
Sauer:

*I am off with tonight's coach. Pickering is dying/

'What about the options?* Sauer intervened. 'You cannot go
now. You must wait/

*I must go to my friend. Get me a seat quickly/

There were no seats left. After a generous tip a small space was
made for him on top of die coach, amid the mail-bags and the
passengers' luggage. Only by holding tightly to the rope strung
across could Rhodes get through the 3oo-mile trip, which, with
short stops, lasted for more than fifteen hours. He came only just
in time for his young friend to expire in his arms and to hear his
last whispered words:

'Thank you, Mr Rhodes. You were everything to me father,
mother, brother, sister and friend Thank you, Mr Rhodes! . . /

At the funeral Rhodes appeared in his usual outfit of crumpled
stained flannel trousers, Norfolk jacket and grey slouch hat. He
was observed to hide his tears behind a krge handkerchief.

Rhodes now took quarters in Dr Jameson's house. Coming
home from the cemetery he collapsed into a chair. He raised the
glass proffered to him and said to Jameson:

'Well, I must go on with my work. After all, a thing like this
is only a big detail . . . only a big detail ... a big detail/

Telegram after telegram arrived from Sauer in Johannesburg
frantically asking Rhodes to return or at least to wire his decision
as most of the best options had already expired. Rhodes did not
answer. Only after the negotiations with Barnato had been
brought to a successful end was he disposed to look again at the
possibilities on the Rand. His resources were all firmly invested
in his diamond venture. Rudd was thus sent to London to find
financial backing. Lately English investors had been pricking up
their ears whenever they heard of new gold shares to which they

RHODES OF AFRICA

might subscribe. The mania of "entering on the ground floor* was
once again being exploited by unscrupulous financiers.

All the money needed by South Africa to build up her gold
industry was at her disposal. Thousands streamed to the Rand,
the pockets of many well padded with big capital, while others
carried only letters of recommendation. Even big banks and
private bankers in England, France and Germany,, were now
sending out envoys to Johannesburg, Official and unofficial
observers of governments sneaked around the Rand and tried
to build up contacts with the Transvaal Government in
Pretoria.

Rhodes was no longer able to resist the magnetic attraction of
money-making on the Rand. His optimism had been restored by
the new connection with the Rothschilds, though his finances
still remained precarious, with all his worldly possessions set on
diamond amalgamation. Since others had found it so easy to have
their more or less honest prospects financed from the pockets of
grasping, maddened gamblers, Rudd was to raise the necessary
capital in London. Rhodes paid his second visit to the Rand from
where he wrote to his partner in London:

The opinion is steadily growing that the Rand is the biggest thing
the world has seen, owing to its wonderful climate, its facilities for
work and its enormous auriferous deposits; it has plenty of good
things awaiting hard work and development.

First he tried to amalgamate the existing important claims. No
one, however, had need of Rhodes. Gold, unlike diamonds, was
not a speculative commodity. The price of gold was almost rigid,
and there was no danger of under-selling. All the big producers
were already linked with international financial institutions or
private financiers so that fresh funds for expansion were always
easily found.

His pockets empty and his credit exhausted to the last penny,
Rhodes, with the genius of a 'superb adventurer', as a colleague
later described him, founded in the most grandiose style a new
company, The Gold Fields of South Africa, later called The
Amalgamated Gold Fields of South Africa. The modest capital
of 125,000 Rudd procured in London. Within a short time the
capital was raised to well over i million.

Rhodes on his second visit started to buy knd. He made his

THE FAT OF THE LAND

purchases mostly on the West Rand and went farther afield than
any other speculators had done.

The farmers had now learnt to ask high prices, At the sale of
one property, the farmer, after the price had been fixed, came with
several flower-pots of miserable geraniums. The man insisted that
they were the property of his vrou and would have to be paid for
separately. Rhodes had to pay several thousand pounds "the
most expensive flowers in the world, worth a place in Kew
Gardens*.

A few thousand pounds more, what did it matter and who
cared! The mugs of shareholders would have to pay for it! Each
of the newly-acquired properties was formed into a separate
company. Having thus financed the purchase of several large
gold-bearing properties, or at least where optimistically he
thought gold ought to be found an assumption kter proved in
many cases to have been fallacious Rhodes now topped his
financial ingenuity. After the model of De Beers, he converted
Amalgamated Gold Fields into a 'holding company* which bought
the shares of all his other gold holdings. Again, as in Kinibedey,
Rhodes and Rudd received founders' shares reserving for them-
selves one-third of all profits. His gold-fields, by acquiring from
time to time share majorities in other companies, soon ranked
second among the Big Ten of the Rand.

The court's objections to the deed of trust of De Beers on the

grounds that the company could *do anything and everything *

were even more tenable in the case of Rhodes* Goldfields
Company. Here he alone was master and no Lord Rothschild
could raise a warning hand and quote to him some paragraphs
from the Company Laws.

The formation of two such formidable corporations had made
Rhodes a rich man, whose exact fortune it was already difficult
to gauge because of the many holdings in his various companies
and their subsidiaries. His income of several hundred thousand
pounds, of which he did not use more than 3,000 a year &
increased from year to year.

Rhodes considered this fortunate turn in his affairs as a natural
step towards his final aim, and regarded all the money which
flowed into his hands as the necessary ammunition for conquering
the North. There was only one obstacle in Ms way: Paul Kruger,
the President of the South African Republic.

RHODES OF AFRICA

Kruger was extremely alarmed about the influx into his terri-
tory of foreigners in such large numbers. These Uitlanders could
easily endanger the whole structure of the thinly populated
republic whose white population of not more than 12,000 voters
would soon be exceeded by the increasing number of rooineks
'red necks' the name given to foreigners, not yet acclimatized
to the South African sun. To him it meant more than the political
consequences: he feared the moral infection of his burghers
through the infiltration of foreign elements. Johannesburg in
the third year of its existence already had a population of over
10,000*

In his predicament Kruger asked President Brand of the
Orange Free State for advice, who told him: 'Make friends with
your UitdandersP As far as the needs of the gold-mining industry
were concerned, the Transvaal Government granted alt possible
facilities. The Times in 1888, in a dispatch from its Johannesburg
correspondent, spoke of 'President Kruger's remarkable common
sense and whose dealings with the crowd of newcomers to the
gold-fields are both wise and liberal". Another article, from a
different source, said that the English on the Rand would rather
live under the Transvaal authority, in spite of rising taxes, than
under the restored rule of the British Crown, remembering with
bitterness the 'faithless desertion by Gkdsone in 1881*.

The mine-owners, however, continued to grumble and were
always bringing forward new demands. Kruger suspected, and
his suspicions were well founded, that Rhodes stood behind these
malcontents. He had not forgotten the humiliation he had suffered
at the conference at Fourteen Streams. He grew alarmed when
Rhodes suddenly came to him and asked him about an extension
of the Cape Railways to the Transvaal and a rail link between the
Rand and Delagoa Bay. Kruger feared a new device for throttling
the TransvaaPs freedom of movement. He also warned everyone
in his capital against the serious consequences of selling property
to Rhodes, whose agents, authorized to invest more than ^100,000
for this purpose, were trying their best to buy land and house
property in Pretoria. No one dared to transgress the President's
warning.

Kruger had acceded to the demands of the mining industry as
much as he could but refused categorically to consider their
political grievances, particularly their claims to a franchise for

THE FAT OF THE LAND

which a few had asked At a banquet in Johannesburg he said
with his eyes on Rhodes:

. * Wealth cannot break laws. Though a man has a million pounds
he cannot alter the law. ... Is it a good man who wants to be master
of the country, when others have been suffering for twenty years
to conduct its affairs? ... It is the unthankful people to whom I
have given protection who are always dissatisfied, and, what is more,
they actually want me to alter my laws to suit them. . . ,

Rhodes understood that this warning was directed against him.
He made a scornful and tactless reply in the Cape Parliament.
Speaking about the extension of railways, he said:

. . . We can extend fifty miles to the Vaal River, but by doing so
at present we shall probably excite the animosity of an individual,
for one of the most extraordinary things in that republican state
is the extraordinary influence of that one man I refer to Paul
Kruger. I say it with all respect, that man is the dictator of the
Transvaal. ... I regard him as one of the most remarkable men in
South Africa, who has been singularly unfortunate. When I remem-
ber that Paul Kruger had not a- sixpence in his Treasury when his
object was to extend his country over the whole Northern interior,
when I see him sitting in Pretoria with Bechuanaland gone, and
other lands around him gone from his grasp ... I pity the man*
When I see a man starting and continuing with one object and
utterly failing in that object, I cannot help pitying him.

Kruger sat on his sfoep in the early morning, listening with
closed eyes while his secretary read to him the translation of this
speech. He took the heavy vellum-bound Bible from the table
and thumbed through its pages until he came to Psalm 5, which
he read aloud:

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!
many are they that rise up against me. . . .

When he had finished, he leaned over the book and for many
a minute he did not speak. His inflamed wise little eyes looked
over the emptiness of the square in front of his house, and he
thought he saw the land, the heavy obstinate holy soil of the
Transvaal, the beloved land which his father, his brothers and

[133]

RHODES OF AFRICA

he himself had conquered step by step under tortuous privations
and sacrifices; the blessed fertile soil which had to be defended
continually against the ragings of the elements; the blissful soil
sanctified by the blood of his brethren, . . .

Without changing his position he said to his secretary:
*Qns Voortrekkers^het die land skoongemaak*, ons is geregtig tot die vet
van die land. . . / (*Our pioneers cleared the land; we are entitled
to the fat of the land/) And falling again into silent meditation
he finally stretched his enormous torso to its full length. Tears
ran down his cheeks as he spoke with thunderous voice as if
addressing the entire assembled nation- The truth of his wise
words of prophecy were soon to become evident to the whole
world and to show the tragedy of a great, simple man and his
heroic freedom-loving people:

Do not talk to me of gold, the element which brings more dissen-
sion, misfortune and unexpected plagues in its trail than benefits.
Pray to God, as I am doing, that the curse connected with its coming
may not overshadow our dear land just after it has come again to
us and our children; pray and implore Him who has stood by us,
that He will continue to do so, for I tell you today that every ounce
of gold taken fro m the bowels of our soil mil jet ham to be weighed up with
rivers of tears ^ with the life-blood of thousands of our best people in the
defence of that same soil from the lust of others yearning jar it solely because
it has the yellow metal in abundance. . . .

CHAPTER IX

KING OF THE MATABELE

TT7<& duba^ wa duba sebekl they give me trouble; they truly
give me trouble/ The words come from the depth of
a burdened heart. The King closes his eyes. The King's coun-
sellors, the indunaSj all elderly men, nod their heads in con-
firmation.

From the back of the assembly the King's official praisers strike
up their song of adulation: e je 9 bay, bay^ oh Lobengula, King of
the Matabele and Master of the Mashona, Son of Umziligazi, the
Drinker of Blood, child of the Great House of Kumaio, the House
of Dingaan, King of the Zulus, Calf of a Black Cow, Man Eater,
Lion, thou art as great as the world. . . .*

'HambagMe depart in peace/ said the King, and he dismissed
the crowd around him.

Salaguhk, kMmalo stay in peace, oh King! Baytte, bajete salute
to the King!"

Only three old men, his chief counsellors, Lotje, Babyaan and
Umsheti, remained. They shook their heads. Was it possible, as
the King had told them, that these big white chiefs were waiting
in the kraal for many moons to obtain the King's permission to
dig for gold in his lands?

6 Mai bab&tjOyjo gbo Mother of Angels, listen to this madness!*
cried the eldest of tiie three counsellors as he helped his master
from his usual seat for state occasions the coachman's box of
a big wagon, a present from one of the traders.

The King slept inside this wagon although he owned several'
large huts and a roomy red-brick house. In one of his huts there
hung a large oleograph in a fly-spotted gilt ornamental frame,
showing the Great White Queen bedecked with pearls, diamonds
and orders and with the royal crown on her head. In one corner
stood two krge battered rusty biscuit-tins, loosely covered
by their lids. "Those silly glass-pebbles' with which the tins
were filled to the brim were often brought to the women's
kraal for the children to play with. Every Matabele whom the

RHODES OF AFRICA

King allowed to go and work In the Big Hole of the white
men had to bring him back a big diamond stone on his return.
No white man ever saw this treasure, but it is estimated that
the King must have owned diamonds worth more than 5
million.

It took some time until the King had descended from the
wagon-box to the ground. His enormous weight of almost
300 pounds was less evident when he stood upright. His height
of six feet four Inches and his erect carriage made the enormity
of his figure appear proportionate. Upon this heavy, gigantic
body, which was naked except for a short breech-cloth of blue
monkey-skin, rested a finely modelled head with the features of
a remarkable man, whose eyes Indicated a vivid intelligence, iron
energy and a forceful character.

Lobengula was a monarch In every respect. Even his white
adversaries, missionaries, unsuccessful concession-hunters, dis-
appointed speculators or hunters and traders whom he had
refused to 'give the road' through his country, admitted it.

Lobengula had been made king against his own will. When his
father died, the eldest son who had been brought up by missionaries
in Natal was unwilling to return to become king. He feared for
his life because the majority of the Matabele objected to him as
their ruler: 'Why bring him back? Will a baboon reared in the
domesticity of the white man ever be rid of the smell of the white
man? 5 They clamoured for Lobengula who vehemently refused to
reign. He would have preferred to rear cattle, a love which remained
with him to the end. As king he spent much of his time supervising
his stock. Lobengula was probably the greatest cattle-owner of his
time. For his stock which was calculated to amount to 500,000
beasts he used his whole country as grazing ground. He would
rather have remained with his cattle than be disturbed by the
heavy royal duties. He foresaw the difficulties awaiting him
among his own people and he also knew that the White Man
was pushing farther north. He felt that the time was near when
the Matabele would have to defend their country against a white
Invasion.

His father already had had to learn that the Transvaal Boers had
cast their eyes on the fat pastures of Matabeleland. He had been a
general In the Zulu King Chaka's army. Chaka, jealous of
victories and popularity among the troops, had
[138]

KING OF THE MATABELE

quarrelled with him and Umaligaa had left Zululand together
with Ms warriors. His aim had been to settle peacefully in the
Marico valley after he had beaten all opposition of local tribes along
his way, The Boers came and drove him farther north until, in
1 8 3 8 3 he settled between the Limpopo and the Zambesi. Umaligajzi
and his warriors had had to beat their way yard by yard until they
reached the airy plateau of Matabeleland with its endless green
cattle-thronged stretches of land, blessed with a rich virgin soil,
many streams and good rains. Before the Matabele had been able
to settle, the neighbouring tribes, the Mashonas, Makkas and
Maholi, had to be taught e to get up and let them sit down*. The
Barotse too had to learn that just as the House of Kurnalo was the
indisputable ruler of Zululand, so its branch under Umaligaa was
determined to become and to remain the dominant power between
the Limpopo and the Zambezi. The annual raids into the neigh-
bouring districts served as a reminder of this resolution to the
tribes around them. Though the Matabele had established them-
selves as what in European diplomatic language would have been
styled the paramount power* among the Native states north of
the Limpopo, Lobengula feared clashes with the Boers. His father
had hoped that after the Matabele had retreated beyond the
Limpopo they would be allowed to remain in the new country
in peace. He therefore in 1853 gladly concluded a treaty of
friendship with the Transvaal. Lobengula,, with an instinctive
political sense, surmised that the land-hungry Boers would sooner
or later, in spite of the still-existing treaty, seize Mashonaland
which, though not incorporated in their country, belonged to the
Matabele as a conquered and occupied territory. Another grave
cause for anxiety was the discovery of gold in the rocks of his
country.

Already in his father's time Matabeleland had attracted many
white men who crawled in the royal kraal 'like locusts'. In the
first years of his rule Lobengula categorically refused permission
to many white people to prospect for gold in his territories. Only
in 1876, upon the recommendation of the missionary Robert
Moffat the only faithful friend the Matabele nation ever had
among all the many white men with whom they came into contact,
a man of sterling qualities, a true Christian, a real friend of
Umziligazfs for 23 years did Lobengula grant a concession to
one Tom Baines, an explorer and artist who had accompanied

RHODES OF AFRICA

Livingstone at the time of his discovery of the Victoria Falls. In

this document Lobengula took the greatest care to safeguard his

sovereign rights:

10 making this grant I, Lobengula, do not alienate from my
kingdom this or any other portion of it; but reserve intact the

sovereignty of my dominion. . . .

Lobengula declined to name an amount to be paid for the rights
granted but left it to the judgment of Mr Baines, *the good white
man, to make me annually . . , such present as might seem proper
to him and acceptable to me 5 .

The concession was never used.

All Lobcngula's fears turned to fact and much worse and much
sooner even than he had expected. It had started in 1882 when the
Transvaal Boers* prompted by President Kruger's prophetic fore-
bodings of a coming British push north, tried unsuccessfully to
persuade Lobengula to enter into a new treaty with them.
At his instigation P. J. Joubert, his Commandant-General, wrote
to Lobengula warning him of the danger to his country from
Britalt^ thus trying to entice him into renewing the treaty of thirty-
two years before. This letter was a masterpiece of psychological
understanding of the primitive yet shrewd political mentality of
a Native ruler:

. . . Now, you must have heard that the English . . , took away our
country, the Transvaal, or as they say, annexed it. We then talked
nicely for four years and begged for our country. But no; when an
Englishman once has your property in his hand, then he is like a
monkey that has its hands full of pumpkin seeds if you don't beat
Mm to death, he will never let go. ... Now they are gone, and our
country is free, and we will now once more live in friendship with
Lobengula, as we lived in friendship with Umziligazi, and such must
be our friendship, that so long as there is one Boer and one Matabele
living these two must remain friends. . . .

And at the end there came an indirect warning against any raids
which Lobengula might be planning against the Transvaal,
referring to what happened to another Native chief who tried to
fight the Boers and had to pay a fine of 5,000 cattle and 4,000

E

KING OF THE MATABEI.E

sheep and goats c for Ms wickedness". Lobengula assured the Boers
of a renewal of their old friendship and told them that if hunters
wanted to kill elephants or any Boer wished to graze his cattle for
a short time on his pastures, they should ask him for permission
and he would 'give them the road'. But never, never, would he
allow a Boer to enter Ms country accompanied by a wom&n or
permit anyone to build a hut there.

Three years later Lobengula was again keeping a wary eye on
the Boers for Kruger had now cast Ms eyes, as Lobengula had
predicted, on Mashonaland, and was plotting with the Germans
and Portuguese to *eat up* Ms territory.

The climax to all Ms fears came when he heard that an impi of
the Great WMte Queen consisting of many thousands of her men,
led by one of her great indunas, General Warren, and under the
guidance of her counsellor, the *Man who made the Big Hole at
Kimberley*, had subdued the Bechuanas and was standing on the
borders of Matabeleland. When would the time come for Ms
country to be eaten up by the Great WMte Queen whose insatiable
greed had akeady devoured the land of the Zulus the home of
Ms noble ancestors and of the Swazis, the Griquas, the Xosas,
the Basutos and the Tongas. * . ?

Lobengula's fears were well founded. From Bechuanaland
General Warren had sent emissaries into Matabeleland who
reported about the great wealth and trade possibilities offered by
tMs commercially virginal country. When tMs report was published
in The Times, City merchants pricked up their ears.

Lobengula's information about a conspiracy between the Boers,
the Germans and the Portuguese to gain a footing in Ms territories
also proved to be true. Warren, in Ms dispatch to WMtehall,
enclosed a communication from Ms agent in Bechuanaland, dated
May 1885.

The Boers are determined to get a footing in Mashonaland ... by
thus taking the Matabele on the flank, and gradually acquiring their
territory by conquest, thence overspreading all the independent
tribes to the west and south of here. I have also good proof that the
Germans and Portuguese are working quietly but slowly to acquire
as much of these knds and the Transvaal under their protection as
occasion will allow of, and believe that they, as well as the Boers and
other nations, are only waiting to hear what action the British
Government will take to settle on their *own.

RHODES OF AFRICA

News of these Northern ambitions of the Boers had not come
as a surprise to London's Colonial Office. At the conference
preceding the London Convention of 1 884 Paul Kruger had made
no secret of the fact that the Transvaal would now be forced to
look to the North for expansion, and no objection had been
raised from the British side.

Lobengula, realizing his impotence in the face of aggression,
had to sit and wait for further developments for two years,
expecting any day that his and his nation's last hour was about
to strike.

From visiting missionaries, hunters and traders he learnt of the
happenings in southern Africa and was able to gain a fairly
accurate picture of the African political scene.

The defeat of the British army at Majuba at the hands of the
Boers and the long and brave resistance of the Zulus against the
British led Lobengula to believe that the Great White Queen was
perhaps after aE not so powerful as the missionaries had always
led him to believe. Under this delusion, and principally to safe-
guard himself from an attack by the Transvaal in the rear, he
thought that a consolidation of friendship with the Boers would
avert the catastrophe looming over his country.

President Kruger was enthusiastic and without losing time
drafted a treaty which would make Lobengula an ally of the
Transvaal and would oblige him, if requested, to put his impis
under the command of the Boers. It also made provision for a
Transvaal official to be permanently stationed at the royal kraal
as consul with extra-territorial rights.

As the first occupant of this post President Kruger imme-
diately dispatched to Bulawayo to obtain Lobengula's signature
to the treaty one of his confidantes, Pieter Grobler.

If ever Kraget's treaty was translated to Lobengula it must
have been in such a way as to make him believe that it contained
nothing more than a confirmation of the old treaty of friendship
which he himself had renewed in 1882. Had he known the real
and far-reaching obligations to which this document committed
him, he would never have put his great elephant-seal to it.

It was said at the time that if President Kruger sneezed in
Pretoria, Cecil Rhodes heard it in his office in Kimberley* Rhodes
very soon knew about the negotiations with Lobengula: Kruger
was entering the North by a back doorl It would have to be

KING OF THE MATABELE

prevented at all costs. And when Rhodes said alP that was just
what he meant.

'You must do something!* he implored Sir Hercules Robinson,
without yet knowing what it was that he wanted to be done.

Sir Hercules had received strict instructions from Whitehall
not to involve Her Majesty's Government in any new African
adventures or experiments. The trouble and money squandered
on waging war in the Transvaal, in Bechuanaknd, in Zululand
and on other smaller expeditions had for the time being cured both
parties in Parliament of colonial imperialism. No cabinet, whether
sailing under the Tory or the Whig flag, would risk exposing itself
to a censure of its colonial policy. British intervention inMatabele-
land was thus out of the question. The Transvaal, as Robinson
pointed out, had so far acted perfectly within the frame of the
London Convention according to which she was at liberty to
conclude treaties with Native tribes in the North without having
to ask Britain's consent.

Sir Hercules declared that all he could do to help Rhodes in
shutting out the Boers from the North was to block their last re-
maining entry into Matabeland. The boundary between Bechuana-
land and the Transvaal had not yet been fixed* The High
Commissioner could declare that part of Bechuanaland through
which ran the direct road from Pretoria to Bulawayo as 'exclusively
within the sphere of British influence'. This small geographical
correction would complete the lock-out of the Transvaal from
the North. But Rhodes did not consider this sufficient since it
left the possibility of an alliance between Lobengula and Germany
or Portugal.

Sir Hercules had become more cautious since Lord Salisbury
had replaced Gladstone as tenant of No* 10 Downing Street. He
told Rhodes:

*To have secured Bechuanaland., well, I think that's enough/

Rhodes gave Robinson a glassy look, then took him by the
arm and led him to the window.

*Do come with me and look at the blockhouse at Table
Mountain/ he spluttered excitedly in his high-pitched voice.
Those good old people, 200 years ago, thought that blockhouse
at Table Mountain was the limit of their ideas, but now let us
face it today. Where are we? We are considerably beyond the
Vaal River, and supposing that those good people were to come

RHODES OF AFRICA

to life again today, what would they think of It and their block-
house? . . . Sir, will yon consider, during the period you have
been the representative of Her Majesty in this colony, what have
you done? We are now on latitude 22.*

*And what a trouble it has been! But where will you stop?'

*I will stop where the country has not been claimed/

*Let us look at the map/

Rhodes, with trembling finger, pointed at the southern border.
of Tanganyika. Before Sir Hercules could express his disapproval
Rhodes cut in:

*The Great Powers at home mark the map but do nothing to
add to it. ... Let us try to mark the map, and we know that we
shall do something.'

'Well, I think, you should be satisfied with the Zambezi as a
boundary/

'Let us take a piece of note-paper, and let us measure from the
blockhouse to the Vaal River; that is the individual effort of the
people. Now let us measure what you have done in your temporary
existence, and then we shall finish by measuring up my imagina-
tions/

*I shall leave you alone! No one can resist you/

Sir Hercules' only stipulation referred to any expenses arising
from a treaty with Lobengula, which would have to be borne by
Rhodes.

In many offices of the colonial administration in South Africa
key positions were in the hands of intimate friends of Rhodes*
from his Oxford days. The most useful of them at that moment
was his friend Sir Sidney Shippard, the Administrator of the new
Crown Colony of Bechuanaland. He would have to deal officially
with matters concerning Matabeleland. Another of his Oxford
pals was Captain Francis Newton, who held the important position
of Private Secretary to the Governor and High Commissioner. In
Pretoria, as Her Majesty's Agent accredited to the South African
Republic, another Oxford friend, Ralph Williams, kept him well
posted about everything going on there. With Captain Graham
Bower, the Imperial Secretary and Sir Hercules' right hand, he
was on the best of terms since they had combined in intriguing
against General Warren during the Bechuanaland affair. And
Sir Hercules Robinson was a shareholder in De Beersl

For the negotiations with Lobengula, Rhodes hit on the idea

[i44]

KING OF THE MATABELE

of winning over the Reverend J. S. Moffkt 3 son of the friend of
the Matabele, the famous missionary Robert Moffat. Moffat had
grown up in Matabeleknd and since his boyhood *Joni* had been
Lobengula's friend. The king was very fond of * Joni* and looked
upon him as one of his own-
Sir Sidney SMppard agreed with Rhodes 5 suggestion to entrust
Moffat with the negotiations with Lobengula so as to counteract
Kruger's clever ruse of planting a consul at Bulawayo, Shippard
suggested that the reverend gentleman stay there In a permanent
capacity as Her Majesty's Deputy Commissioner. From a humble
servant of the Lord, preaching the gospel of brotherly love to the
heathen, Moffat thus underwent a metamorphosis and turned
Into a civil servant of Her Majesty the Queen, with orders to
bring to an unsuspecting black-skinned ruler the blessings of
European civilization. One cannot help doubting whether the
ex-reverend gentleman informed his black royal friend about his
professional change when he came to see him* His first task, that
of nullifying the Grobler Treaty by convincing Lobengula that he
had been deceived by the Boers, met with no great difficulties.
But after that experience of the falsehood of the white man It
was small wonder that Lobengula refused point-blank to sign any
other treaty.

For many days Moffat talked, as Lobengula called It, c like a
hungry dog barking at the meat on a high table'. After one such
long indaba y doubts about *JoniV honesty began to rise In
Lobengula' s mind.

He ended their discussion with the proverb:
'Afaiqili la^ikhotW emblana there is no clever person who ever
licked himself on the back/

With his knowledge of Zulu, Moffat understood the meaning:
if a cunning fellow attempted too much he would in the end be
found out when trying the impossible.

Moffat could not return with empty hands. His official reputa-
tion, his future, was at stake. He again went to see the king and
told him that politeness between monarchs on being offered a
treaty required at least an answer by letter and that the king
should have one written to the Great White Queeo, stating his
reasons for the refusal of her offer. When, on the next day,
ii Feburary 1888, Lobengula fixed his great elephant-seal to a
sheet of papet brought to him by MoSat, he was firmly convinced

[1453

RHODES OF AFRICA

that he was signing a letter merely expressing Ms regrets that
he was unable to enter into a treaty with the Queen's
Government.

The document, brought proudly back to Cape Town by the
ex-missionary, enchanted his masters beyond all expectations. It
contained what was naively described by the authorities as c a
compact of perpetual amity with the Great White Queen*. Its
final sentence robbed a free country of its sovereignty for ever:

... It is hereby further agreed by Lobengula ... on behalf of
Mmself and his people, that he will refrain from entering into any
correspondence or treaty with any foreign State or Power to sell,
alienate or cede, or permit, or countenance any sale, alienation, or
cession of the whole or any part of the said Matabele country under
his chieftainship, or upon any other subject without the previous
knowledge and sanction of Her Majesty's High Commissioner for
South Africa. . . .

Mr Moffat knew what he had done. When presenting this
ominous document to his chief, he thrust out his chest and said
with obvious satisfaction:

'The days of the Matabele are now numbered! *

President Kruger had been officially informed by the High
Commissioner of the agreement with Lobengula, and imme-
diately protested verbally to the British Agent that the British
Treaty was void as it was contradictory to his own earlier agree-
ment with Lobengula. Reserving all his rights he promised a
written reply in due course. Probably he wanted to wait for
a report from Consul Grobler, who was just leaving for Bulawayo,
the Matabele King's royal kraaL

On his previous journey to and from Lobengula, Grobler had,
with the King's permission, used the old direct road from Pretoria
to Bulawayo. Through the High Commissioner's suddenly im-
posed frontier regulations, this road had in the meanwhile fallen
for the greater part to the Bechuanaland Protectorate in the
territory of the Paramount Chief Khama. Moffat, under instruc-
tions from Cape Town, impressed on Khama the importance of
safeguarding his right of way to the whole road and of allowing
no one to pass without his, Khama's, permission.

When Grobler, with Lobengula's permission to 'take the
road* as before, travelled with his party along this road, he was

KING OF THE MATABELE

ambushed and mortally wounded. As President Kruger could not
make investigations in the territory of a British Protectorate he
had to content himself with the British explanation that the
incident had been caused by a petty chief and that IGiama would
pay Grobler's widow an annual pension of 200.

It was clear to everyone in Pretoria, in Bulawayo and in the
neighbouring German and Portuguese territories that the only
party who would benefit by preventing Grobler from taking up
his appointment was one man: Cecil J. Rhodes.

The murder on his territory of a white man, an induna of the
Boers, whom he had assured only recently of the friendship of
the Matabele upset Lobengula. He liked white men and as long
as they complied with his rule and did not interfere with the ways
and customs of his people, he did not object to their coming to
hunt or trade in his country. Some of them, like the Scotsman
James Dawson, possessed his full confidence and were often
consulted by him. He even gave his Great Seal into Dawson's
custody. Besides the welcome residents, the traders and hunters,
Lobengula's kraal also served as a haven to a great number of
shady elements, white, black and brown fugitives escaping from
the law of the Cape, Natal or the two Boer Republics. Lobengula
described these white hangers-on as *my white dogs' or as
Mmfago^ana low fellows who are no gentlemen*. He knew how
to handle them.

All Ms experience came to naught however, when his kraal
became crowded with a type of white man new to him: the
concession-hunters. The worries arising out of the treaty which
his false friend 'Joni* Moffat had wormed out of him in February
1888 were still rotating in his tortured brain when fresh trouble
started with the arrival of white men who asked for something
which his simple mind could not grasp: concessions of land, his
land; concessions to dig for gold; concessions of roads; concessions
. . . concessions . . , concessions. . * .

To a tribal Native the idea of private ownership of land was as
inconceivable as the idea that someone owned the sun, the rain
or the water in a well. None of the white men who came to
Lobengula with the intention of exploiting Matabeleland least
of all Rhodes realized that their request for land to dig for gold
appeared to the Matabele mind as nonsensical as would to us a
Tibetan monk asking the Queen of England for permission to

[147]

RHODES OF AFRICA

buy the moon and offering to pay for It with cowrie shells. But
who bothered to investigate the Matabele mind?

k&egeja lishisa I am sitting upon the hot Iron
of a hoe/ the King said, and sighed deeply as he descended from
his wagon after an inddba on that summer day in 1 888* As was the
wont of his people, he clad his thoughts In an old Zulu proverb.
Old Babyaan replied with another:

*Aku langa lishona lingenandabo %alo no sun sets without its
troubles/

Again the King sighed.

^Ukufa k^enhli^iyo ngum^wangedwa deatih. of the heart is felt
only by oneself/

The King and his three counsellors recapitulated the events
which had led to the present climacteric position in the seventeenth
year of Lobengula's reign.

When Lobengula came to speak of the negotiations about the
gold concessions, repeating the arguments over and over again
while pouring down big calabashes full of beer, he could find no
way out and could only chime in with the sighs of his advisers
and cry out again and again, parrot-like:

'Mat bah, jo, jo gho Mother of Ghosts, listen to this madness P

For him there was no choice, he knew. What he would not
give, would be taken from him by force. They did not need to tell
him what a strong man Rhodes was. Yet his last representative,
Mr John Fry, had not much impressed Mm as the emissary of
a great chief.

Fry had not seen much of the king. Soon he had had to leave
Bulawayo because of ill-health and shortly after his return to
Kimberley he died. He had to be replaced immediately. The
greatest haste was Imperative, Rhodes was not, he knew, alone
in the race. The royal kraal swarmed with concession-hunters.

*I must not leave a vacuum there I must not leave a vacuum/
Rhodes squeaked repeatedly. The word Vacuum' became his
favourite expression for the next few weeks. If he could only go
himself to Bulawayo to conclude the deal with Lobengula.
Because of the importance and urgency of the mission it was
decided that his partner Rudd should go though Rhodes knew
that he was not really suited for this sort of business. Rndd was
too honest, too correct, too hidebound for the job and would

[ 148 ]

KING OF THE MATABELE

need the assistance of someone with more push. Rhodes* choice
fell on Frank R. Thompson, whom he already knew as an excep-
tionally capable young man who had accompanied Warren on his
expedition and had on that occasion spent some time In Matabele-
land where he had quickly become popular with Lobenguia, As
the third member of the party Rhodes selected an old friend of Ms
university days, the learned, dapper Irishman Thomas R. Maguire,
a Fellow of All Souls College, who had won fame at Oxford as
an athlete, a double-first scholar, a dandy, and a great debater.

In September 1888 the triumvirate of Rhodes' envoys arrived
in Bulawayo. It did not take them long to find out that they had
the entire royal kraal, from Lobengula down to the lowest slave,
against them.

The greatest resistance, working from underground, came from
their numerous competitors. Englishmen, Cape Colonials^ Boers,
Portuguese and Germans, who all had their tents pitched or their
wagons stationed around Rudd's camp. Among them there
figured prominently E. A. Maund, the agent of the Exploring
Company, a syndicate of wealthy London merchants backed by
a few tided people and with excellent connexions In parliamen-
tary and governmental circles. No new-comer to Matabeleland,
'Maundy* was a favourite of Lobenguk's, their friendship dating
back to the days of the Warren expedition to Bechuanaland.
During that time there also was born Maund's hatred for Rhodes,
which he dutifully had to share with his commander. Here now
was Maund^s opportunity: if he himself could not wrest a gold
concession from the King, he could at least bring all his influence
to bear upon 'Lob' to frustrate Rhodes.

An opponent of no less strength and burning with an equal
hatred for Rhodes was Mr E. R. Renny-Tailyour, the representa-
tive of Edward A. Lippert, a cousin of Beit's. Renny-Tailyour's
antagonism came to Rhodes by proxy: Lippert had fallen out with
cousin Beit whom he had cheated in some business deaL Later
Beit had refused help when Lippert had come into financial
difficulties. Whenever there was an opportunity Lippert delighted
in annoying his cousin, and this family squabble he extended with
the same intensity to Rhodes. Behind Lippert there stood a group
of German banks*

Including these, the most important competitors, there were all
told the representatives of eleven different groups in the field

RHODES OF AFRICA

racing for Lobengula ? s favour. Just after the arrival of Rudd's
party there appeared on the scene the Anglican Bishop of
Bloemfontein. In the bishop's company travelled a mysterious
German, Count Pfeil. It was not difficult to notice that the
monocled count would have been more at ease In the uniform of
a Potsdam guards officer. He emphasized rather too loudly his
civilian status and the fact that he was there only on a hunting-
trip. It seemed strange that the count had spent many weeks in
Pretoria where he must have bagged less trophies than Intrigues.
He had preferred to travel over longer routes rather than pass
through British territory. All this seemed very suspicious and the
more so when Thompson found out that the count was well
equipped with all the utensils for prospecting, assessing and
surveying.

Lobengula now began to enjoy the presence of the many white
men In his kraal because their homage flattered his vanity. Their
presents he welcomed greedily and had no wish to stop their
flow. He therefore kept up all their hopes, so that they all became
convinced that they had almost reached thcif goal.

It was no easy life to attend Lobengula 3 s court as a petitioner.
Rudd and Thompson, accustomed to roughing it after their many
years of camp life, did not suffer as much as did Maguire, who
hated the discomforts of outdoor life. Lobengula took delight in
humiliating all foreigners by insisting on their strict adherence to
his court etiquette. His audiences took place in the big dung-
covered buck-kraal; his guests had to approach him crawling on
their stomachs and had then to squat for many hours, unprotected
from the full glare of an almost tropical sun,

At every audience they had to go through the ordeal of eating
each two big platters of half-roasted meat covered with myriads
of fat flies and of swallowing two calabashes full of lukewarm
Native beer. Then there came the nerve-racking tribulations of
endless heckling and arguing with Lobengula, of being exposed
for hours on end to his cross-examination.

At every Interview Lobengula would come out with the same
question:

*You are sure you are not coming after grass and land?* And
every time Thompson would reply:

'No, King! No; it is minerals we want* We are not Boers; we
have no cattle to feed/

Sir Leander Starr Jameson

Bulawayo. The famous Indaba tree under which Lobengula dispensed justice
From an old photograph

Lobengula, King of the Matabele. One of
the few extant photographs, as he was
suspicious of the 'Evil Eye' of the camera

KING OF THE MATABELE

Lobengula preferred Thompson, who spoke Ms language
whom he trusted to a certain extent, to the other applicants.
'TomosT was in Ms eyes the perfect gentleman, the only one who
had never told a lie, in contrast to all the others who "had spoken
with two tongues in their mouth*.

To destroy his doubts Thompson gave the King an affidavit
on oath in Ms capacity as Justice of the Peace of Her Majesty the
Queen that Rhodes did not aspire to Lobenguk's land.

TMs sworn declaration was given by Thompson in the best of
faith, relying on Rhodes" repeated assurances and Ms written
instructions on that point.

The negotiations went on for more than a month- Rudd
did not despair. He was not deceived when he placed Ms hopes
on Rhodes finally supplying him with the sword to cut the
Gordian knot. Excitement mounted in the royal kraal when it
was announced that Sir Sidney SMppard, the Commissioner for
Bechuanaland, would be arriving together with Ms deputy, the
ex-missioi*ary John Moflat. Tension increased when reports
arrived from the frontier that SMppard was escorted by an impi
of the Great WMte Queen's soldiers, led by a very big indma*
The Queen's envoy seemed in such a hurry that he travelled even
through the night, 'when', as Lobengula observed bitterly, 'only
beasts and ghosts should be abroad'. Lobengula detested SMp-
pard, who was known among some Native tribes as Marana maka 9
Father of Lies.

Though the sudden arrival of the Queen's representative
brought all the fears he had accumulated during the last few
years to a state of panic, the King exercised the greatest self-
control and received Ms guest with all the honours due to so
Mgh a personality. Although the mercury had almost reached the
top of the thermometer, Sir Sidney, conscious of the importance
of Ms mission, appeared at the ceremonial reception strictly
according to WMtehall etiquette in striped trousers, frock-coat
and stiffly starched collar and shirt. When he late*? took off Ms
suffocating official dress and changed into the cooler colonial
garb, he also changed, unknown to Lobengula, from the repre-
sentative of Her Majesty the Queen to the secret agent and
accomplice of Cecil Rhodes.

SMppard quickly came to the point: he had heard that the King
was much molested by concession-hunters and he wanted to let

RHODES OF AFRICA

Lobengula know that *they were not in any way connected or
authorized by Her Majesty's Government'.

must have briefed SMppard carefully. In this way they
would the wind out of Maund's sails, who, Rhodes feared,

trying to beat him at his own game, having led Lobengula
to believe that the Colonial Office favoured Maund's syndicate.
"Great Britain*, Shippard continued, *is not in any way concerned
with either mining schemes or trading ventures and you may be
quite certain that any private concession-seeker who professes to
represent the British Government is trying to deceive you/ After
a week Shippard left. To Lobengula's astonishment Moffat also
went a few days later.

Activity in the royal kraal now became feverish. Every day for
hours Lobengula sat in council with Ms indunas* Rudd and his
party were summoned to the buck-kraal several times a day. In
the camps of the concession-hunters and in the trading stations
many people wondered why Lobengula sent for the Reverend
C D. Helm, Moffat*s successor as the Senior Missionary of the
London Missionary Society, to act as his interpreter.

The work of this reverend gentleman was not to be restricted
to mere translation, The King, who had full faith in the honesty
and fairness of the missionaries, had asked Helm to advise him
in the matter of the concessions. Helm told Lobengula that it
would be in his interest to come to an arrangement with a strong
group like Rhodes' to work the Mashonaland gold-fields. Other-
wise, he warned, 'there will be a rush there soon and things will
come to a climax*.

Unfortunately Mr Helm concealed from Lobengula the impor-
tant Mid rather strange fact that he who had been sent out to
spread the gospel had just been engaged by Rudd on behalf of
Rhodes at a salary of 200 per annum *to help them a little'.

Rudd was therefore glad when one day he and Maguire were
called to the King and found with him only Thompson, Helm and
Lotje, the only one of Lobengula's counsellors who was on the
side of the white men. The day before Rudd had let the King
know that he would have to leave for home on urgent business.
Helm at the same time had tried to goad Lobengula into agreeing
to sign a concession by insisting that he had to return urgently
to his mission station. Again Lobengula dallied. Again Thompson
had to assure him that Rhodes did not want land but only gold,

KING OF THE MATABELE

and to give Mm a verbal promise which was not put in the
concession agreement that *they would not bring more than
ten white men to work in his country, that they would not dig
near any kraals and that they and their people would abide by
the laws of his country and in fact be as his people'. All this Helm
translated and explained.

Lobengula was now convinced that all that ^Ulodzi", the Man of
the Big Hole., as he called Rhodes, wanted to do in his country
was to dig another big hole there as he had done in Kimberley.

But no, he said, he would not sign* He never signed his name.
This went on for half an houx. New arguments. Suddenly the
King turned to Helm:

'Helfem lete lapa Helm, give it to meP

And so on 30 October 1888 Lobengula signed what was to
become his death-warrant. He sold the freedom of his people,
unwittingly, for a consideration of 100 monthly,, 1,000 Martini-
Henry rifles, 100,000 rounds of ammunition and a gun-boat (a
special suggestion of Rhodes' in a letter to Rudd: "same as Stanley
put on the Upper Congo 3 ), For this blood-money he granted to
Rudd the complete and exclusive charge over all metals and
minerals situated and contained in my Kingdoms Principalities and
Dominions. ... I do hereby authorize the said grantees . . to
take all necessary and lawful steps to exclude from my Kingdoms
Principalities and Dominions all persons seeking land metals
minerals or mining rights therein . . . and I do hereby undertake
... to grant no concessions of land or mining rights from and
after this date without their consent and concurrence. . . /

When Rhodes had discussed with Thompson the planned
mission to Bulawayo, he had said: 'Thompson, if you can get
Lobengula's seal to a concession, FU go crassyP Now this moment
had come.

By a stroke of genius the document was not only witnessed by
the Reverend Mr Helm but the reverend gentleman obliged his
new master by endorsing it with the words:

I hereby certify that the accompanying document has been fully
interpreted and explained by me to the Chief Lobengula and his
full council of Indunas and that all the constitutional usages of the
Matabele Nation had been complied with prior to his executing
same.

RHODES OF AFRICA

and Ws friends the need for counteracting -any

possible Insinuations that the concession had been squeezed out
of Lobengula by Mgh pressmre from official quarters, previously
to him by Shlppard and Mof&t. Shlppard, who for
several weeks had been a few yards from the very spot where the
negotiations between the Rhodes-group and Lobengula took
place, therefore had the unabashed audacity to report to his
superiors that s no Governmental officer or representative had
anything to do with the Concession; and my knowledge of what
took place Is limited to hearsay and to the contents of the
document*.

'Marana maka Father of Lies' had merited his nickname once
more. But as is often the case with such jugglers with truth, Ms
memory was apt to sHp at times. A few years later he boasted:

From my first arrival In Mafeking in 1885 1 was In correspondence
with Lobengula with a view to ultimately securing his territory for
England in accordance with the plan decided on between Rhodes
and myself in 1878.

The Governor and High Commissioner Sir Hercules Robinson
frowned at the grant of modem firearms to the Matabele. Rhodes
lightly brushed aside these scruples: 'Quite harmless, these rifles
in the Kaffir's hands; they are always pushing the sights on the
gun as high as they will go because they believe the bullets then
hit harder. Of course with the sight fully pushed out, all the shots
go far over the aim!'

The old man was satisfied with this evasive reply. But Lord
Knutsford, the Colonial Secretary in Salisbury's Cabinet, could
not be put off so easily, and Robinson was informed that the
paragraph about guns in the Rudd concession was unacceptable
to the Government. This difficulty could not deter Rhodes from
proceeding with his plans. That much he had learnt about hand-
ling red-taped officialdom. Let them face a jfo*Y accompli and they
will joyfully succumb to an offered compromise. One must not
leave a vacuum there ... no vacuum there ... no vacuum,
Rhodes repeated Innumerable times.

Some pressure would have to be brought to bear on fat old
*Lob* to make this savage realize that Rhodes meant business
when he made an agreement. Sir Hercules, naturally, gave in

[154]

KING OF THE MATABELE

when approached by Shippard on Rhodes* Instructions to ask
Whitehall for an Increase in the number of Bechuanaland police
by zco or 300 men in order to safeguard the life and property of
the British residents against possible unrest in Matabeleland.
Lord Knutsford tried to bargain but finally 200 men were
added to Shippard's or should one say to Rhodes' private
army.

None of these highly placed Colonial officials seems to have
shown any scruples in deceiving their Government in misusing
the taxpayer's money to aid and abet die rape of a country. They
knew perfectly well that all these expenses were not intended for
the benefit of thek own country or for the glory of their Queen
but for the enrichment of one man. One does not like to believe
that men in their position, particukrly not an old Civil Servant
with an immaculate past and as generally esteemed for his wisdom,
efficiency and impartiality as was Robinson, nor such ambitious,
highly talented and seemingly correct younger men as Shippard,
Bower and Newton, would have been open to corruption in the
form of expectations of gratitude from the omnipotent Rhodes
or that they would have risked their good name, their career and
the bloody consequences for even a very high stake. Though
much circumstantial evidence points in this unsavoury direction
Robinson after his retirement became a director of De Beers,
and his wife at a farewell-party received a costly diamond-necklace
from the same company; Shippard later turned from a Civil
Servant into the well-paid chairman of the Chartered Company,
and Newton after Ms retirement was given a high position in that
company yet one would rather like to blame their weakness of
character, their blind obedience to Rhodes' orders and their lack
of sound judgment when confronted by Rhodes* overwhelming
persuasive power,, and his cleverly administered poison of
Jingoism.

Up to that stage Rhodes had still been able to give out as his
ulterior motive his patriotic aims of acquiring the North for
Britain 'to paint all this ted'. Now, having obtained the Rudd
concession, he began to convert his liobby*, his 'imagination*,
into a dividend-paying business proposition. Even the most
innocent Civil Servant could hardly have failed to observe that
all his former patriotic catch-phrases were turning into the lingo
of the Stock Exchange.

RHODES OF AFRICA

now parted with the rest of his conscience. The Empire-
became the company promoter. He inserted a declaration
la the newspapers that Lobengula had granted an exclusive
concession to Messrs Rudd, Thompson and Maguire and that
in consequence no one under the threat of arrest was allowed
to enter Matabcleland. Such high-handed action by private
monopoly-holders had, of course, no legal backing, but Rhodes
still had Hs friends in the right places. Shippard obligingly
arrested the agents of a competing concern when they tried to
cross the border.

The Cape Town papers strongly criticized this strange govern-
mental policy of protecting a concession monopoly. Rhodes did
not care. He was burning to leave for London. His concession
had to be put into working order. At the last minute there
occurred an unexpected hitch. Thompson's reports from Bula-
wayo sounded alarming. Shippard and Mofiat sent a warning that
Maund was causing serious trouble. At first Rhodes treated the
news lightly. He was far more concerned that no vacuum should
occur. What he had not expected was that Lobengula was about
to create just such a vacuum.

Thompson had scarcely left the royal kraal with the precious
document well secured under his shirt when Lobengula became
conscious of the possible meaning of the concession document
which he had signed for Rudd. They had cleverly left no copy for
him, and he was thus unable to have it translated independently.
His suspicions increased when Helm, in spite of repeated requests,
would not send him his own copy. At last after weeks of waiting
he held this copy in his hands. So strong was still his faith in the
honesty of missionaries that he summoned two other missionaries
besides Helm to his kraal. He had to act quickly. Not much
longer would he be able to control the growing ferment amongst
his impL They whispered in the kraals that the King had sold a
great part of their country to Rhodes.

Lobengula first put the most important question to the two
missionaries, after they had read the concession document: had
he given away any of the land of the Matabele? After the two men
had studied the paper again they told the king that in their opinion
the white men could not very well dig for gold without land.

A deathly silence settled over the assembly. Lobengula* s expres-
sion did not alter.

KING OF THE MATABELE

*If gold Is found anywhere in the country can the white men
occupy the land and dig for it?* he asked.

'Yes, KingP

*If gold is in my garden,, can they come and dig it?*

<Ye$, KingP

*If gold is in my royal kraal, can they enter and dig?"

'Yes, King!'

The King dropped his head. He gave the impression of having
been completely crushed and beaten. Suddenly a convulsive twist
ran like a flash through his colossal body* He turned slightly
towards his chief counsellor, and fixed Mm with a mad stare* his
eyeballs protruding:

*Lotje, this was your doing! YouVe blinded my eyes; youVe
closed my ears; youVe betrayed meP

The old man bent his head. He rose, full of dignityj and walked
slowly through the rows of indunas towards the gate* Before
leaving he turned towards the King and gave Mm the royal
salute: Bayefe! He knew his fate. Shortly afterwards he was killed
and with Mm Ms wives, Ms cMldren, Ms grandcMldren, Ms cattle,
even Ms fowls and dogs. Of Ms kraal only an ash-heap remained.

The King now turned to Helm, who during the proceedings
had sat, uncomfortable and sweating profusely, behind Ms two
missionary brethren. With scalding words the King accused Mm
of falseness, of betrayal, of fraud, of double-crossing, of perfidy.
He dismissed the embarrassed evangelist with the words;

*Hellem, you call yourself a man of God? You are no better
than a trader/

When the King saw Thompson in the crowd he beckoned to
Mm and said in a voice wMch did not conceal Ms rage:

*Tomosi, all the killing is not yet over/

Lobengula had finally seen through the tricks of SMppard 3
Mofiat and Helm. If he could only approach the Great WMte
Queen directly and explain to her the misery into wMch Rhodes
had plunged Mml

There remained only one man in Ms kraal who, having once been
an officer of the Queen and the eye and hand of that great indma
Warren, would be able to help Mm. That man was Maund. He
would buy Maund*s allegiance by granting Mm a new concession.

Maund suggested that Lobengula should write a letter to the

RHODES OF AFRICA

Queen which would be brought to London by two Matabele
indunas, with Maund acting as their guide and interpreter.
Lobengula chose the seventy-five-year-old Babyaan, a relative of
Ms, and Umsheti, a small, gouty, bad-tempered man of sixty-five.
Maund on behalf of the Exploring Company received a concession
for a large part of Mashonaiand and was made an induna of that

district.

Rhodes was warned in time* His friends at Government House
in Cape Town were on their guard. Moffat protested that
Lobenguk's delegates could not leave the country without the
High Commissioner's permission. Shippard had them arrested
on the Bechuanaland border for entering the Protectorate unlaw-
fully. But Maund merely had to indicate that a cable to the
Colonial Office would easily clarify the existence of this unknown
regulation. Maund now got his two indunas as far as Cape Town.
Next Robinson and Rhodes' friend, Captain Bower, and Rhodes*
old Oxford pal, Newton, stepped in to thwart Lobengula's and
Maund's plans. The two indunas were again arrested upon their
arrival in Cape Town and brought to Government House where
they had to undergo a lengthy cross-examination. Seeing that
they had no plausible legal reason for stopping the two indunas
from proceeding to London, Bower and Newton questioned their
credentials. They accused Maund of having picked up two vagrant
Natives whose nakedness he had only recently covered with
ornamental Native garb.

Maund was not the man to be deterred by such brow-beating.
After all machinations had been unsuccessful, Rhodes asked his
accomplices at least to retard the departure of Maund's delegation
for as long as possible, so as to give him time to arrive in England
before them.

Before Rhodes could leave South Africa he had to provide
against another threatening vacuum in Bulawayo. Rudd, through
illness, had been unable to return there. Thompson, it seemed,
had the jitters. Helm was clearly bowled out through Lobengula's
loss of confidence in him. Moffat, too, had apparently lost his grip
on Lobengula. Someone energetic, someone cunning and yet tact-
ful and with a winning personality, was required for the difficult
task of keeping that fat savage humoured so that he would keep
to the terms of the concession. The only man with these rare
qualities was Dr Jameson.

KING OF THE MATABELE

As soon as Lobengula met Dr Jameson he took to Mm. His
cool, sarcastic and light-hearted manner fascinated the King. At
the time of the doctor's arrival Lobengula, in addition to his
other troubles, was plagued by the gout. Dr Jameson quickly
freed the King of his agonizing pains with the aid of morphine.

For the time being, however, Lobengula did not weaken in his
determination to deny the validity of the Rudd concession* He
refused point-blank to accept the arms brought by Dr Jameson
according to the concession. All Dr Jameson succeeded in doing
was to persuade him to store the guns and arms in a provisional
shelter quickly erected by Jameson's men. Lobengula did, how-
ever, accept the monthly payment of one hundred sovereigns;
which seemed a strange contradiction of his denial of the agree-
ment. Was it greed or did he want to avoid a complete break with
Rhodes before his indunas arrived in London? Or had Dr Jameson,
perhaps, dosed him so generously with morphine that he had
actually blocked the royal brain system?

The dreaded vacuum had been averted. Rhodes, his mind at
rest and full of hope, sailed for England in April 1889.

CHAPTER X

RED, BRITISH RED

TTJOBERT A. T. G. CECIL, third Marquis of Salisbury, Her
JrV_Majesty's Prime Minister, sat at Hs mahogany desk at
10 Downing Street one day in April 1889 studying a file just
sent over from the Colonial Office. His lordship yawned over the
documents in his hands and asked his secretary in his usual abrupt
way: *And who may be this Mr Rhodes? Rather a pro-Boer M.P.
in South Africa, I fancy/ Before long Lord Salisbury was to know
only too well who Cecil Rhodes was.

From his simple room in the noisy Westminster Palace Hotel,
Rhodes was busy trying to burrow his way through Downing
Street into Matabeleland. He had started with his preparations for
obtaining a Charter from the British Government even before he
had the Rudd concession in his possession. At first he thought
that he could best foster his plans in South Africa by entering
politics in England. Rhodes was keenly interested in the Irish
Home Rule problem which in 1886 had reached its climax.
Paralleling Ireland's position within the British Empire with that
of South Africa, Rhodes, still at times dreaming of a British
World Federation, believed in federation within the British
Empire and therefore considered Irish representation in the
English Parliament imperative.

During his previous voyage to England Rhodes had met
Mr Swift MacNeill, one of ParnelPs closest friends. They had
many and long discussions which culminated in Rhodes* offer of
a gift of 10,000 to the funds of the Irish party. In a lengthy
letter to Parneil, dated June 1888, Rhodes stipulated as a condi-
tion for his gift that the Irish party must accept Home Rule not
in the form of Separation but only of Federation with full
representation in the English Parliament. Parnell accepted this
condition.

Parnell and Rhodes became good friends. The Irish leader had
just passed through the agony of his sensational law suit against
The Times, and at the time of Rhodes* visit was still busy fighting

[160]

RED, BRITISH RED

tooth and nail to retain the leadership of his party. Sadly he told
Rhodes: '1*11 lose: the priests are against me/

Rhodes was pacing up and down the room as usual, his hands
deep in his trouser-pockets. Suddenly he stopped., and looking
Parnell straight in the eye he asked him:

'Can't we square the Pope? 9

Parnell was never able to make out whether Rhodes had meant
it seriously. In spite of such faux pas Parnell liked Rhodes. He
once remarked to his friend MacNeill:

* What a pity that Rhodes is not in the Imperial Parliament. As
it is, he will not live in history/

Rhodes had a very high opinion of Parnell whom he esteemed
as *the most reasonable and sensible man I ever met*.

Since Rhodes' gift of 10,000 had not been given secretly or
bound Parnell to discretion, it immediately became known in all
political circles. It was therefore understood when Rhodes in the
spring of 1889 came to London with the concession in one hand
and his hat in the other to dance attendance on the political
mighties, that he had 'squared' the Irish party. The English Press
knew all about his previous skill in 'squaring'. Nobody could
believe such a generous donation to have been given without an
ulterior motive. He was accused of being either a sincere Home
Ruler and an insincere Imperialist or a sincere Imperialist and an
insincere Home Ruler. To these reproaches Rhodes replied:

*I gave Mr ParnelPs cause 10,000 because in it I believe lies
the key of the Federal system, on the basis of perfect Home Rule
in every part of the Empire, and in it also the Imperial tie begins.*

To friends, however, Rhodes cynically said that 'his intention
at the time was merely to keep the Irish party in the House of
Commons from opposing his Charter when he chose to apply
for it'.

Already at the beginning of his parliamentary career Rhodes
lad valued highly the importance of 'having a good Press'. When
he had seen his first speeches reported in only a few lines in the
Cape Town papers he had bought a large interest in one of them.

In England at the time W. T. Stead, a minister's son a few years
older than Rhodes, was the most dutstanding journalistic person-
ality. As its editor he had modernized the Pall Mall Gazette by his
revolutionary and individualistic way of presenting the news.
Through his example he had forced the other papers to come

RHODES OF AFRICA

down from their pedestals from where they spoke above the heads
of the masses. Stead can be called the father of modern j ournalism.

He did not regard the task of his paper as completed by broad-
casting the news and commenting upon it. He wanted the Press
to exercise an ethical influence for the improvement of morals, to
further the educational standard of the people and to spread faith
in the future of the British Empire as the bastion of world peace
and advancement of mankind.

W. T. Stead represented a mighty factor in English public life.
His printed words weighed heavily in the council of England's
leaders, and they studied his opinions in the Pall Mall Gazette as
c though it were the organ of Fate itself*.

Such a man, Rhodes judged, would be useful to have as a
friend. He must meet Stead!

At the beginning Stead was not at all impressed by the young
South African millionaire. Rhodes broke the ice by telling Stead
that he had wanted to meet him four years ago to express his
admiration for the courage he had shown in fighting social evils.
There followed Rhodes' impressive recital of his romantic ideas
of the Pax Britannica; of the Federation of the Germanic countries
led by England; of the conquest of Africa to maintain the
supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race by finding new unoccupied
land in which to settle English colonists and to create new
markets; of the founding of a secret society organized in the style
of Loyola's Society of Jesus. In his desultory way, jumping from
one point to another, starting to expound one idea without having
come to the kernel of the last, Rhodes continued by confiding to
the stranger opposite him his most intimate thoughts on God, the
world and himself. Money, he said, he regarded only as a means
to work out his ideas.

Stead listened intently. What he heard was music to his ears.
One Romantic was getting drunk on the sweet drug of romantic
reveries administered to him by another. Rhodes rejoiced at
having found at last a congenial soul who would share with him
his 'dreams' for which he had never found an echo. Here was the
man for whom he had been waiting, the man who would help
him realize the 'dreams'. And besides, this man would certainly
be of tremendous value to him in London in helping him to
settle quickly all those tiresome formalities concerning his 'little
hobby in Matabeleland*.

RED, BRITISH RED

As was his custom, Rhodes' next step was to take out his
cheque-book, and offer Stead 'as a free gift 20,000 to buy a share
in the Pall Mall Gazette as a beginning' with a promise of more
to come the following year.

When Stead declined Rhodes showed genuine astonishment.
The next day 2,000 damages were awarded against Stead in a
libel case. He had to ask Rhodes for that amount.

Rhodes did not restrict himself to Stead and his paper in
preparing the English Press for a good reception. The St James
Gazette had shown a strongly critical attitude towards him. He
took its editor, Sir Sidney Low, an eminent journalist of great
political influence, into his confidence and changed his animosity
into sympathy with his projects. He also succeeded in establishing
friendly relations with Moberly Bell, the manager of The Times^
and the Reverend John Verschoyle, assistant editor of the pon-
derous Fortnightly Review, became his helpful and admiring friend.

The field was now prepared in as far as publicity was concerned.
The first step on the political scene had been taken through
Parnell. Making prominent members of the two main parties of
Parliament acquainted with his schemes and finding contacts
among present and future Ministers was to be the next task.

Lord 'Natty* Rothschild assisted Rhodes in meeting politically
and financially influential men, though he himself as well as his
firm showed little enthusiasm for Rhodes* exploration schemes.

Rhodes realized that such conservative bankers as the Roths-
childs could not be expected to be elevated from the grooves of
double entry into the realms of his 'dreams*. They had no
'imagination', Rhodes said to his friend Stead:

Look at the criminal in his cell and at Lord Rothschild! It is hard
to say which has the harder lot. The prisoner has some fun, at least,
with the spiders and the mice, but look at Rothschild! Out of 365
days, he spends 300 in turning over bits of paper and marking them.
Look at the two men far enough off, so as not to see any difference
in clothing, and it will be hard to see any difference between thm.
Think of that man and his millions what could he not do with
them!

Something which could and had been done with such a fortune
was the palatial mansion which Lord 'Natty* had built for himself
at Tring Park. Rhodes, though unaccustomed to such splendour

RHODBS OF AFRICA

and to the number of prominent names which he encountered at
Tring, did not feel out of place there as he would have done only
a few years before. His success and his wealth had given him the
necessary self-assurance to meet on equal terms the leading
politicians whom Lord Rothschild invited for him.

Of the people whom he met there he felt most attracted to
Lord Rothschild's son-in-law. Lord Rosebery. His attention was
also drawn to the tall and extremely thin figure of Mr Joseph
Chamberlain, whose ascetic face never seemed to move or register
any signs of inner perturbance and which appeared still more
mask-like with the monocle screwed into his right eye. His was a
cold and an almost cruel face, in which there burnt, under the ice
of frozen emotions, a frantic ambition, tireless energy and morbid
vanity.

Meeting Chamberlain was an important event for Rhodes, who
knew that he was a member, and the most interested member, of
the South African Committee of the House of Commons which
would have the fate of his scheme in its hands.

When after dinner the ladies retired, Rhodes managed to place
himself next to Chamberlain. At first there was a long silence.
Chamberlain, his arms folded and his legs stretched out, had that
vague look which had earned him the sobriquet of 'The Sphinx*.
Rhodes fixed his eyes on him questioningly and when he found
that the other was going to make no attempt at starting a conver-
sation, he began, as usual, by plunging straight into a question
which had worried him:

*Mr Chamberlain, I am told you do not like me?'

Chamberlain did not change his relaxed position. His answer
came in the chilling voice that he used successfully in the House
when wishing to chastise a backbencher:

f l am not aware, Mr Rhodes, that I have given anyone the right
to tell you that. But if you put it to me, why should I? I only
know three things about you. The first is that you are reported
to have said that every man'has his price. It is not true, and I do
not like the man who says it. The second is that you have talked
of "eliminating the Imperial Factor" in South Africa. The third
is that you gave .10,000 to Parnell, and that is not exactly a claim
on my gratitude.*

After this freezing rebuke Rhodes realized that he would have
to do more spade-work than he had anticipated. His own dislike

RED, BRITISH RED

of Chamberlain dated back to 1 877, when the same man. who today
played himself up as a great imperialist had protested against the
annexation of the Transvaal as an act of force, fraud and folly'.

Rhodes had to give vent to his fury. All the way home in the
carriage he sat without speaking, but when he arrived at his hotel
he said to the amazement of a young man unknown to him whom
he had taken with him:

'Some people spend their time in growing orchids., others
spend their time in making empires!'

His next disappointment came when he called at the Colonial
Office and was told by Lord Knutsford, the Colonial Secretary of
State, that Lord Gifford and George Cawston of the Exploring
Company represented in Africa by Maund, had come to apply
for a Charter with a similar concession from Lobengula in
their hands. Knutsford also mentioned that, according to the
latest reports, it seemed that Lobengula was making difficulties
about these concessions. The Government, so Rhodes was told,
did not want to be involved in a private dispute between two
opposing groups and it would be in the interest of Mr Rhodes
as well as of the gentlemen of the Exploring Company if they
would come to an agreement about their claims and join hands
in the exploitation of the mineral wealth of Mashonaland which,
under certain conditions, would find the approval of Her Majesty's
Government.

Rhodes at first was not so sure whether he should not fight,
but he finally saw that he had no choice. He had just decided to
try and amalgamate his interests with those of his opponents
when Maund and Lobengula' s two delegates arrived in London.
In the Colonial Office Lobengula' s letter to the Queen had the
effect of a bombshell. This letter read:

Lobengula desires to know that there is a Queen. Some of the
people who come into this land tell him there is a Queen, some of
them tell him there is not.

Lobengula can only find out the truth by sending eyes to see
whether there is a Queen.

The Indunas are his eyes.

Lobengula desires, if there is a Queen, to ask her to advise and
help him, as he is much troubled by white men who come into his
country and ask to dig gold. They asked me for a place to dig for
gold, and said they would give me certain things for the right to do

RHODES OF AFRICA

so. I told them to bring what they would give, and I would show
them what I would give. A document was written and presented to
me for signature, I asked what it contained and was told that in it
were my words and the words of those men. I put my hand to it.
About three months afterwards I heard from other sources that I
had given by this document the right to aH the minerals in my
country. ... I have since had a meeting of my indunas,, and they will
not recognize the paper, as it contains neither my words nor the
words of those who got it. ... I write to you that you may know the
truth about this thing and may not be deceived.

As soon as the letter was delivered Rhodes came forward with
a declaration that it was a forgery. His argument was that it had
not been witnessed by any missionary, though Rhodes could
have had no doubts why Lobengula, after his recent experiences
with the reverend gentlemen, had found a flaw in their honesty.
As far as the Great Elephant Seal was concerned simply ridicu-
lous, said Rhodes, to consider it as proof of Lobengula's hand.
This seal was always kept in the cash-box of one of the traders,
and the King did not know its meaning at that. And why, pray,
had Lobengula accepted his monthly payments if he seriously
denied having granted Rudd the concession?

Lord Knutsford accepted this flimsy explanation without ask-
ing for further proof. The Rothschilds and Lord Rosebery had
convinced him that Rhodes, with the enormous capital of De
Beers and the Goldfields behind him, would be preferable to the
Exploring Company in exploiting Lobengula's country.

Maund in the meanwhile, having become aware of the fact that
Rhodes was the stronger party, was already reflecting whether it
would not after all be wiser, as Rudd had already hinted at
Bulawayo, to come to terms with Rhodes. They met in London
accidentally. Rhodes tackled Maund bluntly:

'Listen, Maund, if it comes to a fight, money will be no object
but there may be means of accommodation/

As a direct result of this meeting, Maund immediately flagged
in his zeal. He advised his friends of the Exploring Company to
march with Rhodes rather than lose all chances. Since they were
not willing, however, to sell out to Rhodes at his price, a fight
for the best possible terms continued.

The Colonial Office had to remain neutral, or at least to appear
neutral, in this squabble over alleged concessions, the more so

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after some Indiscreet questions had already been asked in the
House. First Mr Chamberlain had inquired 'whether in view of
the character of the concession . . . H.M. Government will take
any steps to call the attention of the Chief to the disadvantages
and dangers to the peace of the country incident to such a
monopoly; and whether, in event of H.M. Government extend-
ing at any future time a protectorate over the Colony, now under
the sphere of British influence, they will refuse to recognize the
concession in question or any similar concession that may be
contrary to the interests of the Chief and people of Matabeleland,
and likely to lead to complications and to the breach of peace?*

Baron de Worms, the young Under-Secretary of State, replied
evasively that the Government had so far abstained from inter-
fering but that Lobengula had now asked for advice, and that
someone would be sent to him by the Queen. He emphasized the
Government's disapproval of the gifts of arms and ammunition.
And it was certainly not the intention of the Government, he
said, to countenance such concessions if a Protectorate was to be
declared.

Such questions by the Member for Birmingham were greatly
disliked by the Right Honourable gentlemen on the Treasury
bench. However, one could discuss such matters with Mr Joseph
Chamberlain in Committee or tackle him privately in the Lobby.
It was a different matter, and far more disturbing and dangerous
to members of the Government, when the Radical Member for
Northampton, Mr Henry du Pr6 Labouchere, rose and poured
forth one of his mud-slinging, impudent and libellous attacks, as
his enemies called them, but which his friends described as Ms
audacious campaigns against evils and defects in public life.

Tabby* wanted to know 'whether it is a fact that Lobengula
denies having knowingly signed a concession . . . and asserts that
a Missionary, acting as interpreter, erroneously interpreted the
document to Lobengula*, and 'whether the Secretary of State for
the Colonies can see his way to put an end to all exclusive conces-
sions granted to British subjects within South Africa*.

The greatest precautions would now have to be taken by the
Colonial Office not to supply Labouchere with material for another
of his biting vituperations not only in Parliament but also in his
widely circulated weekly paper, Truth.

LordKnutsford, realizing the danger arising out of Chamberlain's

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RHODES OF AFRICA

sudden curiosity In Lobengula' and from 'LabbyY apparent pre-
paration for a disclosure in Truth., sent a message to Lobengula
which would make it clear that the Colonial Office was washing
its hands of the matter In innocence:

The Queen advises Lobenguk not to grant hastily concessions of
land or leave to dig, but to consider all applications very carefully.
It is not wise to put too much power in the hands of the men who
come first, and to exclude other deserving men. A king gives a
stranger an ox, and not his whole herd of cattle, otherwise what
would other strangers arriving have to eat?

Rhodes fumed with rage. Again a vacuum was threatening to
undo the work of the past months. Rhodes now saw clearly that
what he needed was a mote convincing title to the mineral rights
in Matabeleland than the vague Rudd concession. Did they not
call him on the London Stock Exchange 'the great amalgamator'
after the wonders he had performed with De Beers? He would
show once again that, even though that Birmingham big stiff
denied it, everybody had his price.

Much more easily than he had expected, Rhodes came to an
agreement with Cawston and Lord Gifford by which the Explor-
ing Company, possessor of Maund's comprehensive concession,
together with its sister enterprise, the Bechuanaland Exploration
Company, was amalgamated with Rhodes* company, the Central
Search Association, holder of the Rudd concession. A new
concern comprising all these companies was founded, the United
Concession Company, with Rhodes, Beit, Rudd, Cawston and
Lord Gifford on the Board.

The acquisition of the Bechuanaland Exploration Company
was particularly welcomed by Rhodes, though this Company's
only asset was a promise given by Lord Knutsford In 1888 'that
no offer from any other party for a Railway Company in British
Bechuanaland should be entertained during the period required
for making a survey of the route and consideration of their
proposals*. The Colonial Office had further consented to exercise
a 'fair influence on Native chiefs of the territories in question'.
Though the project had been well favoured by the Colonial
Office, Sir Hercules Robinson, when the surveying party of the
Company arrived in Cape Town, had made difficulties in every
respect, as did Sir Sidney Shippard in Bechuanaland. These two

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RED, BRITISH EBB

Colonial administrators, just like their friend Rhodes, did not like
this interference of the Imperial Factor 5 In a matter concerning
a vital Cape Colony problem of policy which, they thought, ought
to be handled from Cape Town* Apart from this, there had been
a silent understanding that the way to the North and the territories
beyond the Limpopo were the exclusive concern of Rhodes!

Rhodes at the time showed the greatest interest in the railway
project which coincided with his own plans. The engineer in
charge of the surveying party, Charles M etcalfe, was one of his
Oxford pals. So well must he have beguiled old Metcalfe at
Oxford with his stories of South Africa, that this good lad still
believed in them and was actually dreaming of a railway across
the whole African continent, stretching from the Cape to Cairo.
Such a gigantic scheme, surpassing even Rhodes' 'dreams'
which did not go farther than the Zambezi at the time fired his
imagination with a new and stronger impetus. His mind so far
had been principally occupied with the exploitation of the mineral
resources of the North* Metcalfe, however, had not only conceived
the idea of linking South Africa by rail with Egypt and the British
possessions in the Sudan but already had plans in his pocket
showing their feasibility. Moreover, his group of the Bechuana-
land Exploration Company had the blessing of Whitehall for the
project. The negotiations with Metcalfe had broken down when
Cawston and Lord Gifford found Rhodes competing against them
in Bulawayo for a gold concession.

Much still remained to be done. Others came with more or less
genuine concessions from Lobenguk. Without much investiga-
tion as to their legal merits Rhodes acquired, sometimes at exhor-
bitant prices, a number of the strangest documents for all sorts of
rights granted by Lobengula,

The concession companies Rhodes had acquired were united
into the British South Africa Co. (B.S.A.C) with a capital of
i million in i shares of which De Beers, Goldfields, Rhodes
and his friends (among them Dr Jameson with 4,500 shares)
subscribed more than three-quarters while the rest was to be
reserved for friends in South Africa. Rhodes, Beit and Rudd, as
well as Cawston and Lord Gifford, became the directors.

Rhodes knew the history of his country. He had learnt that
Britain's wealth and the might of her Empire were founded on

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RHODES OF AFRICA

her old possessions abroad which had been acquired as a result
of the spirit of enterprise of a few daring men of action with no
help from their Government other than receiving a piece of
vellum containing a beautifully written 'Royal Charter*.

Rhodes set out to apply for a Charter and sent his associate,
Lord Gifford, to approach Lord Knutsford. Though he was well
received and the Secretary of State expressed the interest of the
Colonial Office in the scheme, it was hinted politely that 'much
would depend on the personal directorate' or, in other words,
that men 'without background' like Rhodes, Beit, Rudd and
Cawston would not be acceptable to the Government as suffi-
ciently reliable contractors.

Lord Salisbury was anything but enthusiastic about the project
as in his opinion 'such far-reaching objects fell properly within
the province of the Government'.

The lukewarm reception of his plans by the authorities in-
furiated Rhodes. He understood that he was expected to present
for his Board a list of titled nobodies whose names were popular
or a few immaculate men with reliable political affiliations in
order to make his scheme palatable to the cliques of Whitehall.
Rhodes began to look round for men with big names. He first
asked Arthur Balfour, Lord Salisbury's nephew, who, however,
declined with a visible shudder.

Just as once before, the German Government came to Rhodes*
aid, even if only indirectly. H. M. Stanley had just returned from
a two-year expedition by which he had acquired almost the entire
Lake district of Equatoral East Africa. Bismarck heard of Stanley's
negotiations with England for the annexation of this territory.
Wilhelmstrasse immediately reminded Downing Street of the
agreement of 1886, according to which spheres of influence
should be respected by both sides. Salisbury did not want to
have new difficulties with Prince Bismarck. He seemed blind to
the fact that Germany, by seizing the territory between German
East Africa and the Belgian Congo, would cut off the direct
connection between South Africa and the British possessions in
East and Central Africa.

Germany seemed to have decided on further colonial expansion
in Africa, and Portugal too had shown signs of an ambition to
annex territories in Central Africa.

In South Africa the Transvaal and the Orange Free State had

[1703

RED, BRITISH RED

entered into an alliance. Paul Kruger had not abandoned his
deske for expansion and was threatening to 'burst Ms kraaF.
Disquieting reports of Boer activities came from Matabeleland.
The brother of the murdered Transvaal consul, Piet Grobler, had
brought to Pretoria a solemn declaration sworn before a Justice
of the Peace in Bulawayo that Lobengula had never signed the
Moffat Treaty, President Kruger therefore declined to recognize
this treaty and claimed Matabeleland in accordance with the
London Convention which stated that the territory to the north
of the Republic should remain open to the Boers.

With the isolation of Britain in Europe where she had to face
Bismarck's solid Triple-Entente, a frightened Russia eager to
appease an alternately threatening or flirting Germany, and an
estranged France, Lord Salisbury found the general political
situation difficult enough without inviting clashes with the Great
Powers in the colonial field, which might upset Britain's recently
recovered prosperity. On the other hand, he was determined not
to renounce any of Britain's colonial rights, since he did not want
to be numbered among the 'Little Englanders'. Yet Lord Goschen,
the tight-fisted Chancellor of the Exchequer, would never consent
to any tax-money being used for what he called Imperial adven-
tures north of the Zambezi',

The Prime Minister was fortified in his resolution not to allow
any African soil to slip through his fingers after he had listened
to a young consul who had spent twelve out of his thirty years
in Central and East Africa. He reported to him about the valuable
territory of Nyasaland, including the fertile Shire Highlands and
all the land stretching from north of Lake Tanganyika as far as
Uganda, borderidg on the Belgian Congo and linking up with the
Sudan. All this land on which the Germans, and to some extent
also the Portuguese, had cast their eyes could be brought under
the British flag if immediate action were taken.

Salisbury went to the map on the wall and let his finger slide
slowly from the Cape over Bechuanaland, Matabeleland and
Mashonaland, crossing over the Zambezi to Nyasaland, along
Lake Tanganyika, over Uganda and the Sudan, until he stopped
at Cairo. In a hushed voice he said: fi Cape to Cairo Cape to
Cairo . . . and all British!'

Eleven years had passed since 'the Gladstone Prophecy*, as
Bismarck had called it, which had predicted the linking of the

RHODES OF AFRICA

British possessions north of the Equator with those in South
Africa ('be It by larceny or be it by eruption') and since Sir Edwin
Arnold had coined the catching phrase 'From Cape to Cairo. 5
The slogan had only recently, In August 1888, been reintroduced
through an article by the same young man who was now standing

at his side.

He was rather young, but Lord Salisbury was convinced that
he would be able to rely on the sound judgment of Harry
Hamilton Johnston, a former art student at the Royal Academy
who had recently been appointed British Consul for Portuguese
East Africa. Here was a serious and enthusiastic young official of
the consular service whose great knowledge of Africa, as a result
of his leadership of a scientific expedition, had been recognized by
several British scientific societies. He had done most valuable
work as British Vice-Consul in the Cameroons, where he had
brought the land of several chiefs under British influence, thus
laying the foundation for a protectorate in the Niger delta.

Lord Salisbury, at the end of the interview, saw clearly all the
advantages of bringing such precious territories under the British
flag. But what could be done to materialise Johnston's suggestion
with no funds available for such an expedition?

Johnston in a very despondent mood went to a dinner-party
for a meeting with Rhodes arranged by John Verschoyle of the
Fortnightly fLeview, They sat talking about their African plans
and dreams until daylight, Rhodes repeating again and again
Johnston's phrase which he had now heard for the first time,
'Cape to Cairo'. . . . He was captivated by it. It expressed all he
had ever dreamt o These three words would serve him well to
fire the imagination of the masses in South Africa and England and
to drag the people with him to the conquest of the African interior.

This rare opportunity must not be allowed to pass. He had
made up his mind: 'You are to see Lord Salisbury at once, tell
him who I am and give Lord Rothschild as my reference. . . . Say
that if money is the only hindrance to our striking north from
the Zambesi to the headwaters of the Nile, I will find the money!
. . . What was attempted by Alexander,, Cambyses and Napoleon,
we practical people are going to finish.*

With trembling hand Rhodes wrote out a cheque for 2,000
as a first instalment with which Johnston was to equip his expedi-
and a declaration to the British Government promising

['7*1

RED, BRITISH RED

10,000 annually for the administration of Nyasaland. The only
condition was that Johnston left for Nyasaland within four weeks.

These amounts Rhodes considered a good investment also from
the point of view of ingratiating himself with Lord Salisbury.
Rhodes was right in his assumption: Lord Salisbury declared
himself very satisfied with this solution to the question of acquir-
ing new colonial possessions cheaply with private aid. It would
give that" arrogant young Kaiser no reason for complaint against
the British Government since they could always deny knowledge
of this private expedition.

'Quite a smart fellow, this man what do you call him . . .
Rhodes/ was Salisbury's impression after he had had a talk with
him. He now looked with greater sympathy at the application for
a Charter by Rhodes' company.

At the end of the conversation Rhodes asked how far north he
should go. Salisbury shrugged his shoulders and pointing to the
map answered: 'Take all you can get and ask me afterwards!'

Rhodes was prepared for opposition. Through the efforts of
his new friend Johnston, Chamberlain was persuaded to abstain
from asking indiscreet questions in Parliament. In order to protect
himself and his scheme from further attacks Rhodes needed a
bulwark of personalities so high in standing that his company
would be above criticism. Such people could not be lured by the
prospects of money alone. They would have to be baited by some
patriotic motives in addition. Two incentives would have to be
used by Rhodes to stir the patriotic sentiments also of the masses:
the one based on hatred and fear, the other dependent on a
melodious catch-phrase. Both were at his disposal: Germany was
feared and hated by the English for threatening the peace of the
world and for unfair trade competition through her 'cheap and
nasty' products. Now she was trying to oust Britain in the
colonial field!

Rhodes yoked in his friends to spread the propaganda along
these lines. To Metcalfe he wrote: *It will come better from you,
as I am looked on with some distrust at home/

Promptly there appeared in the Fortnightly JLeview an article by
Metcalfe in which he gave warning that the path of Britain into
the interior was imperilled by Germany's rivalry for the heart of
Africa. In one of the following issues of this journal was published
another article in the same vein by another friend of Rhodes', the

RHODES OF AFRICA

famous hunter and author, Frederick Courteney Selous. To have
acquired the co-operation of a man of Selous' reputation was to
be of great advantage to Rhodes. The opinions of an authority
such as this were willingly accepted in official circles as well as
by the English Press. The idea of 'Cape to Cairo 5 had gained
impetus and was taking root. Even an austere scientific assembly
like the Royal Geographical Society joined the propaganda
campaign for Rhodes' scheme.

After the careful instigation of this preliminary publicity cam-
paign, Rhodes began to worry about finding men of sufficiently
high rank to be considered 'acceptable' to Whitehall. The Roths-
childs were still very reluctant to be involved in Rhodes' 'hobby',
Rhodes knew of only one other person in England in the same
social position as the Rothschilds: the old Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

The beautiful mansion in classical Georgian style of No. i
Stratton Street, Piccadilly, was the centre of London's social life,
and the mistress of the house was Angela Georgina Burdett-
Coutts, first Baroness, of Highgate and Brookfield in the County
of Middlesex. She compelled attention not only by the millions
which she owned and the huge amounts she constantly gave away
to charity, but by her grace, her wit and the fine intellect and
inexhaustible energy with which she managed her business affairs
and manifold charitable enterprises.

Rhodes had met this remarkable old lady, now seventy-five
years old, through an introduction by the Reverend Mr Helm,
from Bulawayo. Well informed about Lady Burdett-Coutts* deep
interest in missionary work, he told her about his future plans,
stressing particularly the great advantages the missionaries would
have in spreading the gospel and the benefits to be gained by the
savage Natives if their countries came under the civilizing in-
fluence of Britain. At the end Rhodes approached her with the
blunt request to provide him with high-ranking patrons for his
schemes* Rhodes' wildest expectations were surpassed when Lady
Burdett-Coutts arranged a party for him with the Prince of Wales
as guest of honour.

When Rhodes explained his scheme to His Royal Highness, he
found not only a willing ear but also the understanding of a man
sufficiently schooled in business affairs to be able to judge the
soundness of a financial proposition. The Prince became infected
with Rhodes* enthusiasm and promised to submit the plan to the

RED, BRITISH RED

Queen, who, after consulting with Lord Salisbury, gave her
consent to grant Rhodes a Royal Charter. Since it was not con-
sidered advisable, for political reasons, that the Prince should
accept the leading position in the Chartered Company, he recom-
mended instead his son-in-law, the Duke of Fife. Also for political
reasons, the Duke was to take the position only of vice-chairman
and thus the Prince of Wales chose for the chairmanship his good
old friend the Duke of Abercorn. Both dukes had very close
political connections, Fife with the Liberals, and Abercorn with
the Tories.

With the royal blessing and two dukes on his Board it was easy
for Rhodes to fill the other seats on the British South Africa
Company before applying for the Charter. Lord Gifford and
Cawston of the Exploring Company had to be on it according to
the terms of the merger, and it was natural that Rhodes should
be nominated managing director with Maguire representing him
on the London Board. Beit and Rudd were also included. The
Duke of Fife brought in a senior partner in his banking firm.
Sir Horace B. Farquhar, and also, on his friend Stead's recom-
mendation, Lord Albert H. G. Grey, nephew and heir to Earl
Grey, an acquisition described as Rhodes' greatest achievement.

Rhodes now felt that he needed a background more adequate
than the Vicarage of Bishop's Stortford to lift himself to the same
social level as his new associates. If he could not boast of noble
birth he would at least show a descent from old gentry stock. He
acquired from a distant relative an estate at Dalston, once owned
by his grandfather, Samuel Rhodes. In the churchyard the new
squire had some gravestones of the family restored and had others
brought there from various places, in order to establish a 'family
vault'. Dalston now became 'the old family seat*.

Through his new connections and through Beit, Rhodes be-
came friendly with a number of city bankers who were to be very
useful in the future, such as Barpn d'Erlanger, in later years a
director of the Chartered Company. He much admired Rhodes'
talent for publicity, declaring that 'Rhodes fired the imagination
of that most conservative class of human beings, the British
investor, by christening his route the Cape to Cairo*. Of still
greater advantage were Rhodes* business dealings with the
bankers G. & A. de Worms, who took a great financial interest
in the Chartered Company.

RHODES OF AFRICA

The Times,, formerly sceptical about the plans and personality
of Rhodes, now waxed almost enthusiastic in a leader which
heralded "the formation of a new company of British capitalists
and phiknthropists . . . opening up to trade and civilization
certain territories in central Zambesi', *It is rich/ it continued,
'fabulously rich, we are told, in precious metals and half a dozen
others besides. . . . Whether the Company finds the wealth of
Ophir in the mountains and rivers of Mashonaland or not, we
cannot doubt that it will lay the basis of a great EngUsh-speaking
colony in what appears to be the fairest region in Africa.

One can almost see Rhodes and his intimates smile as they read
the passage about 'British capitalists and philanthropists'. Perhaps
it was at this opportunity that there first escaped his lips the ugly
words which he later used repeatedly: Turc philanthropy is aU
very well in its way, but philanthropy plus five per cent is a good
deal better/ The Liberal papers, however, showed their scepticism
in as blunt a form as they could without tempting the English
libel laws, and encouraged by their condemning criticism the
Reverend Mr Mackenzie raised his arm to give what he thought
would be the death-blow to Rhodes' plans by an attack in his
pamphlets against 'a Cape colonist who is believed to have
received very influential support . . . from persons in authority
at the Cape. ... A single speculator who buys for an old song
the most valuable territory in South Africa. . . / Fortified by
royal backing, Rhodes was not much disturbed by his old
opponent's vendetta. He was far more worried by the hostility
displayed towards him in Parliament, which came not only
from the side of the 'Little Englanders* but also from staunch
imperialists.

Labouchere again asked some embarrassing questions in the
House, his curiosity this time being directed at the relationship
between the High Commissioner, Sir Hercules Robinson, and
Rhodes, and the official help received in attaining the Rudd
concession.

Feeling against Robinson ran high in the House because of a
speech he had delivered on his departure from South Africa and
his retirement from office. He had said that *. . . there is no
permanent place in the future of South Africa for direct Imperial
rule on a large scalel . . .* Such variations on Rhodes' theme of
the 'elimination of the Imperial Factor*, which he was trying to

RED, BRITISH RED

live down, turned many politicians against the Charter. They
argued that Rhodes was a double-tongued anti-Imperialist flirting
with the Boer-friendly and anglophobian Bond in South Africa
and at the same time playing up to the Jingo spirit at home.

The revival of 'John Company*, in the form of Rhodes'
Chartered Company, met with opposition on both sides of the
House. As chief speaker and most ardent opponent there rose
Sir John Swinburne who had a special axe to grind with Rhodes
for having encroached on a territory to which he believed himself
to have a prior claim as the founder of the Tati gold-mines.
Though the Tati district was expressly excluded from the Rudd
concession. Sir John saw his prospering company dwarfed by
Rhodes'. He complained that the treatment of the Charter in
Parliament was 'a hole-and-corner affair . . . being railroaded
through the House of Commons at an outrageous speed'.
Pleading for adjournment, he concluded with the words:

'The fact is, this Charter will give to a syndicate of private
adventurers as much power as the old East India Company
possessed. . . . The whole pith of the Charter is really to confer
all these powers on one person, Mr Cecil Rhodes.'

Following his principle of preferring negotiation to fighting,
Rhodes offered Sir John Swinburne a price far above its true
value and successfully persuaded him to sell him his Tati conces-
sion and merge his company with the Rhodes' group.

To suppress any arguments that Rhodes, by the terms of the
Charter, would be at the receiving end without any compensatory
obligations, while the Government was forced into the role of a
goddess bestowing on him far-reaching favours without expecta-
tions of any returns, Rhodes offered to extend the railways and
telegraph lines in the North and to begin to build immediately
a telegraph line between Mafeking and Tati. He also offered an
annual amount of 4,000 for the salaries and expenses of a
suggested Imperial Resident at Bulawayo.

Finally, on 10 July, Lord Knutsford informed Cecil Rhodes
that the Cabinet had decided to recommend to Her Majesty to
grant the British South Africa Company a Royal Charter. It was
only by dint of the greatest exertion by Rhodes assisted by
Sir Hercules Robinson that the resistance of the Colonial Office
was broken down and all Rhodes' demands were met. The hardest
fight occurred right at the beginning when the future boundaries

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RHODES OF AFRICA

of the Chartered Company were fixed. The Colonial Office made
no difficulties about the other frontiers but insisted obstinately
that the Zambezi should be the boundary in the North. Rhodes
remained adamant in demanding full freedom to go as far north
as he wished, skilfully using the 'Cape to Cairo' leitmotiv in his
plea. In the end Lord Knutsford gave way and the Charter
contained no mention of the northern boundaries in regard to the
extension of the Company's territory.

As a matter of fact, the Government could not and did not
grant land in a country over which it possessed no claim to
jurisdiction in any form. Only much later, by a Report of the
Lords of the Judicial Commission of the Privy Council of
19 July 1918, was a legal interpretation of the purport of the
Charter given:

The Charter simply gave capacity to own and to grant land, but
in itself it granted none. It used, indeed, the expression 'the Com-
pany's territories', but this referred to the area within which those
capacities might be exercised, and did not amount to an anticipatory
grant by the Crown of land which in 1889 was not the Crown's to
bestow. . . .

After the Charter had already gone through, Lord Salisbury
felt that it had been granted for something which did not exist.
In a note to the Colonial Office he pointed out that Rhodes
possessed no claim to land:

, , . that the British South Africa Company has found itself hitherto
somewhat embarrassed by the fact, on which those opposed to it
were not disinclined to dwell, that the *Rudd concession' obtained
from Lobenguk in 1888 did not in terms purport to grant more
than mining rights in his territories, and that therefore it had but
an imperfect right, if any right at all, to grant such titles to immovable
property as were necessary for the development of a civilized com-
munity and of operations other than mining in its field of operations
South of the Zambezi.

Translating from the official lingo, it becomes evident that the
Charter was granted to the Company only for the exploitation of
mining rights derived from the Rudd concession, the only asset,
in the opinion of the British Government, that the Company
possessed. However, Rhodes and his associates had purposely
concealed the fact that the Company ctid not even own the Rudd

RED, BRITISH RED

concession! The Rudd concession, just like the Maund concession,
the Tati concession, the Bains concession and the Nyasaland
agreement, had been acquired and were held by the United
Concessions Company, the private company founded and owned
by Rhodes, Rudd and Beit together with Lord Gilford and
George Cawston.

Only after the Government had confirmed its decision of
granting the Charter did Rhodes make a contract between the
British South Africa Company and his United Concessions
Company, conferring on the former the rights (but not the title!)
connected with the Rudd and other concessions against a pay-
ment of 50 per cent of all profits deriving therefrom. Rhodes,
behind the back of the Government and of his shareholders, and
without paying a penny for this valuable claim, thus made himself
a secret half-share partner of the British South Africa Company.
What enormous value this clandestine partnership represented
was to become evident in 1890 when the Company was forced to
buy from Rhodes that is, from his United Concessions Company
the Rudd and other concessions in his hands for one million
fully paid i shares of the Chartered Company of which the
market value was then akeady between 3 and 4 each and which
were to climb within the next few years to 7. Lord Gifford and
Cawston received 75,006 shares while the bulk went to Rhodes,
Rudd and Beit, each of whom therefore made a profit of over
a million on this deal!

The British Government, just as much as the shareholders, was
completely taken in by this nefarious trick. It took the Colonial
Office more than three years and then only by a change in Govern-
ment to discover the fraudulent manipulations which had been
kept secret from them in 1889. The Secretary for the Colonies,
Lord Ripon, informing the Chartered Company in 1892 that he
had just received official report of the arrangement between the
two companies, stated:

... it is clear that Her Majesty's late Government [Salisbury's] was
unaware of it when they advised the grant of the Charteir. Whether
knowledge of the arrangement would have influenced their action
is a question which they alone could answer, but Lord Ripon thinks
it important to place on record a statement of the state of their
information at the time when alone their knowledge or want of
knowledge of the arrangement was material.

[179]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Contrary to general belief at the time, the Charter did not give
any great political powers to Rhodes. On the other hand, it also
did not put him under any great obligations. The obligations
which it did impose on him concerned the rights of the Natives
and were formulated in vague terms. The Charter granted by the
Queen on 15 October 1889 stated that the Chartered Company,
on the prescribed field of operation, could exercise full benefit of
its concessions 'so far as they are valid"; that the Company might,
with the approval of the Government, acquire other concessions
and rights 'including powers necessary for the purposes of govern-
ment 5 ; that the Company 'preserve peace and order . . . and may
establish and maintain a force of police*, that the Company 'shall
consider carefully native laws and customs, particularly land-
property rights 3 ; and that the Company make regulations for the
preservation of elephants and other game. One paragraph was
inserted, suggested by Rhodes' legal friends, which made the
Chatter completely incontestable, even by the shrewdest lawyers:
'Her Majesty do further will, ordain and declare that this Our
Charter shall be taken, construed and adjudged in the most
favourable and beneficial sense for, and the best advantage of,
the Company . . . notwithstanding that there may appear to be
in this Our Charter any non-recital, mis-recital, uncertainty or
imperfection.' Paragraph 30- -'Our Naval and Military officers
and Our Consuls and Our other Officers in Our Colonies and
Possessions, and on the high seas, ... be in all things aiding
to the Company and its officers' meant that the Company
could call upon the help of the British Army and Navy in its
tasks.

As a result of pressure from Exeter Hall the Colonial Office
insisted on the prohibition of intoxicating drinks in the Company's
territories, but the final formulation of Paragraph 12 of the Charter
perplexed all those who knew about the abominable though very
profitable trade in spirits in Native territories and its effects on
the aborigines:

The Company shall regulate the traffic in spirits and other
intoxicating liquors within the territories aforesaid, so as, as far as
practicable?* to prevent the sale of any spirits or other intoxicating
liquor to any Natives.

1 Italics by the Author

fi8o]

RED, BRITISH RED

There was a general outburst of abhorrence about a paragraph
which dealt with slavery. Paragraph n of the Charter stated that:

The Company shall to the best of Its ability discourage and, so
far as may be practicable^ abolish by degrees, any system of slave
trade or domestic servitude in the territories aforesaid.

Rhodes was now faced for the first time with translating his
'dreams* into realities. At this point he was concerned only with
the problem of financing his march to the North. 'Our concession
is so gigantic, it is like giving a man the whole of Australia/ he
told Rudd. For its exploitation enormous sums would have to be
handy. For the time being, and as long as these amounts did not
have to be shown in cash, he manipulated the financing of the
Chartered Company by using the money of De Beers and the
Goldfields. The Rothschilds had already remonstrated about the
unorthodox use of the capital of these two concerns. Generous
and helpful as they had been at the foundation of his diamond
amalgamation and of the Goldfields, they still held coldly aloof
from helping to finance the Chartered Company. He thus had to
find the means on the money market and induce speculators,
investors and savers to take up on the Stock Exchange the one
million shares of i each of the Chartered Company.

Invulnerable against criticism through his high connections,
he could unload his shares on an unsuspecting public. Carefully
he directed the market so that the shares were taken up in large
quantities at double and treble the price of their nominal value
until they rose to a maximum of more than j for the i shares.
The publicity slogan of *Cape to Cairo' had worked wonders. The
most absurd paradox was the fact that the majority of the shares
of this company, meant by its founder to become the bastion of
British supremacy in southern Africa and the basis of the realiza-
tion of his imperialistic dreams, were bought by French and
German speculators. This fact was of course not revealed to the
public, just as the shareholders were kept in the dark about all
matters concerning the Company. And what little they were told
when offered its shares was painted to them in glowing colours.
Actually the assets of the Chartered Company were nil. Its future
was built on hopes. The main hope, described in terms of a
certainty, lay in finding gold in the concessioned territories. The

1 Italics ly the Author

RHODES OF AFRICA

only authorities for such expectations were certain passages in the
Old Testament which referred to the Land of Ophir, the tales of
some ancient travellers and a few pieces of auriferous rock found
twenty years before by an amateur explorer and painter. But the
names of the high-ranking personalities on the Board dispersed
all scruples > suspicion and caution.

Serious criticism was raised about the methods employed in
forming the Company. It was stated openly that its shares were
'used by Rhodes to conciliate the influence of influential people*.
Rhodes doled out liberally to those who had assisted him in
promoting the Company options on i shares which could be
sold, even before they were paid for, at 2. or 3 . Rhodes 7 friends
defended him against such reproaches with the astonishing expla-
nation that he 'looked at the matter in a broad way and recognized
all those who had helped him secure the Charter and given
requisite financial guarantees as entitled to the first chance of
profit by the enterprise which they had helped to bring into
existence*. He was taxed with the same offence in South Africa
that he used a large parcel of these shares to 'square' his local
influential friends.

Rhodes was beginning to become impatient. Africa was calling
him. Thompson's latest reports from Bulawayo carried the alarm-
ing tidings that Lobengula was once more falling under the
influence of his Vhite dogs*. Thompson seemed again to be
suffering from the jitters.

Before the Charter was officially proclaimed Rhodes set out
for South Africa to gather the harvest from the seeds of his
'dreams*.

CHAPTER XI

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

DARK, silent clouds were hanging over the royal kraal of
Bulawayo. No one dared to speak aloud. Not even the
highest induna would have dared to criticize Lobengula. Rather
they pitied him. They whispered that since he had had Lotje and
his whole clan killed the King often did not touch food or beer for
days. Not that the King repented of having put to death his chief
counsellor; but he felt that he could no longer rely on the advice
of any of his indunas. They said that the King was robbed of his
sleep at night by madhlo^i ghosts. He could be seen wandering
through his kraal in the dark or sitting in his goat-kraal fully robed
in his regal war-dress, brewing medicines with the help of the
chief witch-doctor. What worried the people most were the
rumours that for several moons the King had called none of his
wives nor any of his concubines to the brick house to share his
mat with him.

Even the highest indunas were kept in the dark about their
royal master's plans, let alone his thoughts, worries and fears.
Very seldom now were they called to the royal kraal for an indaba.
It was whispered in Bulawayo that the King seemed to have been
cured for ever of his former partiality towards white men. His
great friend whom he calls *Tomosi ? , the mouth of the Man who
made the Big Hole, the gossipers said, seems to have fallen into
disgrace. Even the Queen's induna 'Joni 3 Moffat has been waiting
already for weeks to see the King.

The fact was that Lobengula felt like a trapped animal robbed
of its freedom and left no choice but to wait for the death-blow.
The only indunas admitted to the royal presence were his emis-
saries, Babyaan and Umsheti. Again and again they had to tell the
King their tales about the land of the Great White Queen. During
one such discussion he opened the old biscuit-box, and dug under
his diamonds. Out came the cursed piece of paper by which he
was supposed to have given away his land to the white men. He
ordered Thompson, the traders and the white hangers-on of the

RHODES OF AFRICA

kraal to appear before him. Everyone had told him that Thompson
had blinded his eyes by magic and that the concession was not
valid. Let them now tell him how to rid himself and his country
of the danger of being eaten by the big-mouthed guns of the
white devils:

'What have you got to say? There is the paper!'

The white men looked uncomfortable. None of them seemed
willing to talk. Finally one found the courage to step forward
and say:

'King, we have read the paper again and we must say that this
document is all right* What we said about Mr Thompson we
know now was wrong/

Lobengula's face expressed such contempt that the man quickly
stepped back into the crowd. The King rubbed his hands across
his Kps: 'Tomosi has smeared fat on your mouths/ he said. 'Oh,
what liars all you white men are! Tomosi, youVe lied the least.
Tomosi, have you not got a brother named Rhodes who eats
a whole country for breakfast?' With these words the King, his
eyes flashing fire, dismissed them.

Lobengula had guessed correctly that the sudden change in
attitude of the resident white men in Bulawayo was brought about
by corruption. Rhodes had bombarded Thompson with letters
for weeks, always fearing that the last of his envoys would, as
Rudd and Maguire had done, become nervous and quit his post,
thus creating the abhorred vacuum. He persuaded the brave
Thompson not to give up, tempting him with prospects of the
future:

... I ask you plainly: do you believe you could have a grander
chance in the world if the thing succeeds. . . ? When I tell you that
the Rand is selling today for 30 millions what may I ask is the
value of our Concession if we get settled in harness. . . ?

Rhodes was equally worried about the opposition to his conces-
sion from the influential traders and about their claims based on
previous grants from Lobengula. He therefore advised Thompson:

I think you underrate your opponents. Could you not gradually
employ them? Napoleon was prepared to share the world as long
as he got Europe, Work on these lines. Can't you give the whites
who are in the country something, . . ?

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

Thompson followed Rhodes* suggestion and distributed freely
among the traders and the 'white dogs' several thousand pounds.
They pocketed the money with satisfaction but Thompson won
their full loyalty only after he had shown them a letter from
Rhodes which contained the passage:

... I am arranging with the Colonial Office to withdraw any
chance of action against any of the whites, so you can assure them
they are safe. . . .

By this clever stroke of promising them immunity though
Rhodes' interference as a private individual with the course of
British Justice is amazing Rhodes removed their main cause for
opposition. As fugitives from the British police, most of the white
men in Bulawayo had had very good reason for trying to prevent
British infiltration into Matabeleland.

Feeling that the noose arourid his neck was tightening, Loben-
gula in his desperation again wrote a letter to the Queen:

The white people are troubling me much about gold. If the Queen
hears that I have given away the whole country it is not so. I have
no one in my country who knows how to write. I do not know where
the dispute is as I have no knowledge of writing.

Having learnt from his previous experience, Lobengula this
time adhered strictly to prescribed procedure and went to the
Reverend Mr MofFat as the representative of the Queen to have
his signature witnessed and the letter forwarded through official
routes. The letter caused great dismay to Rhodes' friends in
South Africa Sir Sidney Shippard, J. S. Moffat and Captain
Bower all of whom served their Queen as high colonial officers
with the same devotion with which they looked after the interests
of their other master, Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes had just returned from London with the Cabinet's
confirmation of the Charter. The royal proclamation of the
Charter was expected towards die end of October. It was now
the middle of August. A letter from Bulawayo to London usually
took about seven weeks. This meant that Lobengula's letter would
arrive before the Charter was officially announced and could thus
easily, if not upset, at least delay all Rhodes' plans. The letter
would have to be kept back, Rhodes suggested, until there was

RHODES OF AFRICA

no longer any danger of a collision. His friends obligingly kept
back the letter which was dispatched to London four days before
the Charter was gazetted and arrived there exactly no days after
Moffat had received it from Lobengula.

When no answer arrived from the Queen, Lobengula's fears
turned to panic. His regime of terror in the royal kraal had worked
on his young warriors to such an extent that they openly voiced
their demand to c wash their assegais in blood*. Much as Loben-
gula, in normal times, had welcomed the eagerness which drove
his matjaha young recruits into battle to win the right to
marry, he did not even dare to send them on harmless raids
beyond the border. He had learnt about the increase of the
Bechuanaland Police which Sir Hercules Robinson, at Rhodes'
request, had so cleverly squeezed out of the Colonial Office.
These police-impis, Lobengula was told, were suspiciously busy
on the Matabele frontiers. He feared that if he allowed his young
bloods to go totgubagubo to rattle their shields it might lead to
clashes with the Queen's impis*

The high spirits of Lobengula's matjaha found an outlet in
insulting and threatening Thompson. He was a brave man who
had never shirked the greatest perils of the- veld and had never
shown fear of even the wildest Natives. But what he had to suffer
in Bulawayo, where he was no longer safe by day or night, went
even beyond his power of endurance. He had now wasted his
time and health in Bulawayo, without a break, for more than a
year. Why could not Rudd or Maguire come to replace him or
better still Rhodes himself for whom Lobengula was clamouring
all the time?

Rhodes replied from Kimberley that he should stay in Bulawayo
until the concession was ratified by Lobengula. While praising
him for his work Rhodes warned him sternly that he would lose
his credit and rewards 'which would be hard for your own
future' if he did not see the matter through to the finish *which
is now so near'. Rhodes must have realized that this was some-
what harsh on an associate who for over a year had risked his
life for him almost daily and therefore added:

Please do not view this as a threat but look at it practically. If we
lose the Concession we have nothing for the Charter. . . . If I were
to isolate myself in the interior at this moment the whole of the
base would go wrong.

[186]

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

Rhodes did, however, announce that he might send Dr
Jameson to help Thompson in Bulawayo. The doctor had already
proved that he was the only one among Rhodes' friends, who, by
his strong nerves, his energy and no less by a never-failing
personal fascination, could manage Lobengula. Rhodes knew him
for a passionate hazarder who gambled not so much for the sake
of money as for the thrill of outwitting an opponent. Here was
a gamble! Dr Jim would certainly jump at the opportunity of
out-trumping an opponent like Lobengula. Dr Jameson's answer
to Rhodes* inquiry when he would be willing to start arrived
promptly: *By tomorrow's mail-coach.'

While Dr Jameson was being jolted in the coach to Bulawayo,
Rhodes was on his way to Pretoria to settle with President Krager
the Transvaal's still ardent and vociferous aspirations to the North.

Upon his arrival Rhodes was told that the President could not
see him that day, Saturday, as the town was full of burghers who
had come from near and far for the nagmaal Holy Communion
and many of whom would call on the President and leave him no
time to see anyone else. 'And tomorrow?' asked Rhodes, already
irritated by this cool reception. The President's secretary looked
at the visitor with an expression of incredulity: 'Tomorrow is
Sunday? *I know,' said Rhodes, *but I have to leave.' *The Presi-
dent does not see any visitors on Sundays.' "Tell him Cecil Rhodes
wants to see him.'

The secretary came back quickly with the President's answer:

'Tell him that I do not do business on die dag van die Here. So
Mr Rhodes can wait or go.'

Rhodes turned purple. Picking up his hat, he hissed: 'The old
devil! I meant to work with him, but I am not going on my knees
to him. I've got my concession, though, and he can do nothing.'
He left for Kimberley by the next coach.

Historians have agreed that this interview, which did not take
place because of the obstinacy of two strong-willed men, might
have changed the entire course of South African history.

Rhodes was in a hurry to return to Cape Town in order to ask
the help of his friends in Government House against a fresh
attempt by Edward Lippert and Renny-Tailyour to obtain a new
concession from Lobengula on behalf of a German syndicate.
Rhodes' men had reported that Renny-Tailyour was in Johannes-
burg, where he was observed to hold long conferences with

RHODES OF AFRICA

Lippert, both frequently visiting the agents of a German bank*
When Rhodes heard that Renny-Tailyour was buying a travel
wagon and engaging several Matabele boys as servants for a
journey to the North and had asked all to keep the matter secret,
he became determined to prevent him or Lippert from crossing
the border into Matabeleland. It seemed evident that one of
them wanted to take the concession document to Bulawayo for
Lobengula's signature. Government House, as always, was oblig-
ing without asking any questions about the legality of their
friend's demands* Shippard immediately issued an order to the
Bechuanaland Police to arrest Lippert and Renny-Tailyour if
either of them should try to enter Matabeleland. The incredible
occurrence, contrary to all concepts of law and justice, of a British
subject being put under arrest on British territory without a legal
warrant and for the only reason that he was about to enter a
foreign country outside British jurisdiction, took place when
Renny-Tailyour arrived at Tuli, the frontier-station in Bechuana-
land. Renny-Tailyour calmly told the officer that he would launch
a complaint with the High Commissioner and would wait as his
prisoner for the reply. A few days after his arrest a Native runner
was seen racing along the road, wildly swinging a cleft stick to
which was fixed a heavily sealed letter. Already from afar, as was
the custom of royal runners, he shouted: A royal message from
my lord, King Lobengula, to his slave Renny . . . Renny. . . P

Nonchalantly Renny-Tailyour put the letter in his pocket. He
went to the camp-commander to tell him that there was now no
longer any need for him to go to Bulawayo.

To the officer's question he replied with well-simulated indif-
ference: 'Really, nothing of importance, but this letter here saves
me a lot of bother, as it contains a concession just signed by
Lobengula and his council of indunas by which all land-rights of
Matabeleland are transferred to me and Lippert.*

This time Rhodes had been outwitted. Lippert had not given
up hope of getting the better of Rhodes and particularly of his
hated cousin Beit, even after they had obtained the Rudd conces-
sion. He consulted Th. ( c Ofly*) Shepstone, a barrister recognized
as the greatest authority on concessions in South Africa. Offy 9
was the son of a famous British Colonial official, Sir Theophilus
Shepstone, who was known throughout southern Africa as
'Somtseu' the Mighty Hunter and esteemed as a great friend

[188]

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

of the Zulus. This friendship was extended to his son c Ofiy* not
only by the Zulus, among whom he had grown up, but by many
other tribes, especially the Matabele. Lobengula was very fond of
*Offy* and regarded him as his best friend among the white men.
He therefore accepted Shepstone's advice to give Lippert a land-
concession by which the Rudd concession would become valueless
because it did not cover sufficiently the right to take possession of
land. If Lippert was nominally the owner of all land, how would
Rhodes be able to dig for gold? Lobengula, in the hope of
forestalling Rhodes* further onslaughts by having Rudd's gold
concession disputed by another white man, willingly signed the
Lippert concession.

Rhodes was furious. His anger changed to fear when he learnt
the full contents of the Lippert concession. It contained exactly
those rights which he needed so as to legalize his own concession
and make the Charter workable. These land-rights had worried
Rhodes a good deal and he had discussed this point in London,
Chamberlain had advised him: "Well, you have got the gold of
the whole country, which in itself is nine points of possession, so
I should say that even if you have it not in theory, you have it in
practice. But I should like you to get some territorial acknow-
ledgment from Lobengula, further strengthening your claim as
a whole.'

Knowing full well the value to the Chattered Company of their
concession, Lippert and his group asked a stiff price for it which
Rhodes declined to pay. Negotiations dragged on for a long time
until Rhodes had to swallow the bitter pill of paying Lippert his
exorbitant sum. Thirty years later the highest English law-court
decided that the Lippert concession did not really offer any
legality as a title to the ownership of land.

Thompson, in the meanwhile, could no longer bear to stay at
Bulawayo with the now certain prospect of being murdered by
the excited Matabele. He decided to flee as quickly as he could.
Just on the border he met Dr Jameson, who persuaded him to
return with him to Lobengula.

The King, however, refused 'to give him the road*, saying:
jslo I do not want to see that man who has spoken to me with
two tongues. Lobengula chases liars away like mangy dogs/ It
took Dr Jameson's persuasive influence eventually to obtain
permission for Thompson, to enter Bulawayo with him. Jameson

RHODES OF AFRICA

was warmly received by Lobengula, who was still very fond of
"IPDogetele', The doctor used all Ms charm in executing Rhodes 3
order c to keep Lobengula sweet'. Again he treated him success-
fully for his gout and cured his inflamed eyes. By his humour, his
presents and his captivating amiability, Dr Jameson helped con-
siderably to improve the mood of the King and also to dispel
some of his fears*

One day, when Jameson had started to prepare Lobengula
for the impending occupation of Mashonaland by the Chartered
Company, the King, turning to Ms interpreter, had burst out:

* <c Ulocbd" has sent me many emissaries and among them
"ITDogetele", whom I like, who is "UlodriV * mouth; but I am
Lobengula and I want to see the big white chief himself; I am
tired of talking with his messengers and the bearers of his words;
their stories don't all agree.'

Progress was slow* Whenever the subject of Mashonaland was
broached Lobengula* broke up the interview. The prospect of
persuading him to consent to the Chartered Company's entry
into Mashonaland deteriorated rapidly* The Colonial Office, per-
sistently egged on by Rhodes 5 ducal associates in London, had
prepared a theatrical coup by which Lobengula should be left in
no doubt that behind Rhodes and the Chartered Company stood
H.M. the Queen and the British Government and that they were
resolved to back the gold concession if necessary by the might
of their army. The occasion of notifying him officially of the
granting of the Charter was chosen as the right moment.

On a hot summer day at the beginning of 1890, there jogged
along the rugged road to the royal kraal a heavy coach on the
doors of which, below a large golden crown, was inscribed the
royal monogram V.R. The cumbersome vehicle, drawn by eight
fat and shiny mules in silver-coated harness, was followed by
many riders in scarlet uniform, with glittering silver breast-plates
and shiny silver helmets from which costly feathers fluttered in
the wind. Each of these uncanny appearances rode a wonderful
charger covered with costly material and most of them carried
drawn swords. The cattle in the kraal became restless. The dogs
howled and crept away with tails between their legs. Chickens
fluttered in terror into the bushes. Women cried hysterically and
pulled away their children to hide in the huts.

A contingent of the Royal Horse Guards, together with the

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

regiment's band, and led by three officers, had arrived to announce
the Charter to Lobengula in the name of the Queen and to express
her approval of the concession. Before the letter could be handed
over to Lobengula it was shown to Dr Jameson who angrily tore
'this unintelligible rubbish' to pieces, not in the least concerned
that it came from a Minister of the Crown and was thus a State
document. He sat down immediately and wrote another letter,
more suited to Rhodes' purpose, which was presented to
Lobengula as coming from the Queen.

Lobengula received the delegation with dignity and closely
inspected the escorting Guardsmen, He tapped their breast-pktes
with his fingers and remarked to Jameson: 'Now I know that
Babyaan was not telling me a lie when he said that the Great
White Queen "clothed her soldiers in iron/

Dr Jameson declared himself satisfied with the 'excellent
results' of his falsified letter on Lobengula, who was evidently
deeply impressed. Nevertheless Lobengula still refused to discuss
the question of 'giving the road' to Rhodes' men in his country
through which ran the direct route to Mashonaland. The festival
of the First Fruit was approaching. On that occasion the King
would have to throw the sacred assegai to indicate to his impis
the direction of their next raid. His unruly young warriors were
pulling at the leash more than ever. They had already threatened
loudly to kill all white men in Bulawayo. Where should he send
them? He could not possibly let them loose on Mashonaland.
There they would without doubt dash with Rhodes' men. In
the east, as he had learnt, Portuguese impis were massing, waiting
for a reason to make an inroad on his territory. To the north?
He knew that the King of Barotseland had just asked the Great
White Queen to give him protection. To the west? There stood
Shippard's Bechuanaland Police. To the south? Should he
provoke a repetition of history and have his men decimated by
the Boers? . . . There was nowhere to go! . .

Tens of thousands of eyes were focused on the King. The
men stood lined up, breathless from the intoxicating wildness of
their war-dance. Their deafening shouts rose still higher when
Lobengula slowly raised himself from his seat, a lion-kaross slung
over his shoulders, with long monkey tails dangling from
the leopard-skin around his waist and on his head the royal

RHODES OF AFRICA

rubber-ring with a long single heron-feather. His head held
high and stretching himself to his full height, he walked with
ceremonious steps to the centre. 'Nankul Nankul There he is!'

Lobengula received the sacred spear from an old induna. He
grasped it with firm hands and whirled it round and round in an
ecstatic dance. Breathlessly they waited to see in which direction
the spear would be thrown. Suddenly the King stopped and with
the utmost vehemence drove the spear into the ground. Bitter
silence settled on the crowd. In the silence the King walked
slowly, leaning on the sacred spear, towards his hut.

Many months passed. According to Rhodes' latest reports to
Dr Jameson, it seemed that Selous had indicated a possibility of
entering Mashonaland by another direct route for which a road
would first have to be made. The vexatious passage through
Matabeleland and the consequent possibility of a clash with
Lobenguk's impis would thus be avoided. Lobengula would
merely be required to close his eyes to Rhodes* march into
Mashonaland. The King, however, justly claimed Mashonaland
as an integral part of his kingdom. His father's impis had con-
quered it and the Mashonas accepted the Matabele as their
masters. To Lobengula Mashonaland represented a valuable asset
from where he collected considerable taxes and drew his supply
of slaves. Tens of thousands of head of cattle, forming a great
part of his wealth, were permanently put there to graze.

In May 1890 after Dr Jameson had been at the royal kraal for
four months he thought that it was time he returned to civiliza-
tion. He felt that Lobengula's evasiveness might continue for
ever if he did not put him under the pressure of an ultimatum.
He prepared his departure, and went to take his leave of Loben-
gula. He saw the King lying on his sleeping-mat stark naked,
staring into space and apparently deep in thought. When he
refused to listen to him, Dr Jameson broke off abruptly with the
words: 'Good-bye, King, you've given me your promise about
the road. On the strength of that promise, I'll bring in my impi
to Mashonaland. Otherwise there will be war!'

When he had returned to South Africa in August 1889, with
the Charter concluded and only still to be officially proclaimed
by the Queen, Rhodes had felt that he was the ruler of a country
twice the size of the United Kingdom, but which still had to be

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

conquered. The long months of negotiations had played havoc
with his nerves. In South Africa it was Cecil Rhodes who set the
pace. Now he wanted to start out immediately on his march to
the North, or, as he now preferred to say, 'up yonder*. He wanted
to begin with the railway and telegraph lines which he was
obliged to build according to the terms of the Charter. The
Colonial Office made no move to supply him with the required
material. Perhaps they first wanted cash? He cabled to them
asking to whom he should make the payment. After a week he
received their reply: *No so fast; you must wait until the Charter
is granted.'

He was kept busy. De Beers and the Goldfields needed his
attention. The mines in Kimberley were running smoothly, but
in Johannesburg the gold-boom which had started in 1887 had
been in its fullest bloom until the latter half of 1889 when prices
suddenly collapsed and the get-rich-quick brotherhood had to
interrupt its dance around the golden calf.

Rhodes encountered great difficulties in Johannesburg. The
Rothschilds were not satisfied with his liberal jockeying of funds
out of De Beers and the Goldfields into the Chartered Company.
At a shareholders' meeting of Goldfields, they, together with
other shareholders, refused to allow an increase of its capital by
120,000 for investing in Chartered shares and also demanded
that the Company sell all its stock of De Beers* shares.

Any interference by shareholders, even by members of the
board of directors, Rhodes regarded as an insult which he would
not stand. In his anger he wrote to Rudd:

Goldfields have behaved disgracefully and I am thinking of
resigning, but shall await your decision. I have no intention of
working for these fellows for the balance of my life.

The threat, of course, was not meant seriously, but as usual
Rhodes had employed the right tactics: Goldfields subscribed
heavily to the Chartered shares,

As a result of a few lucky incidents the position on the Rand
changed overnight. Rich coal-fields were discovered in the
Transvaal, and consequently the exorbitant price of coal dropped
to a point where also the poorer gold-mines could be worked on
a profitable basis. Fears that the reef would pass out at a greater
depth proved to be unfounded. The greatest innovation, which

RHODES OF AFRICA

brought about the salvation of the Industry, consisted of a cyanide
process by means of which gold could be extracted from the ore
up to 95 per cent.

The hectic days of boom, this time in a form wilder than ever
before, descended once more on Johannesburg, and seemed to
settle there as a permanent condition, spreading also to the share
markets of London and the Continent. Into Johannesburg there
now streamed a fresh crowd from all parts of the world.

The birth of this cosmopolitan town of 50,000 inhabitants,
three-quarters of whom were British, only forty-odd miles from
his country's capital, was regarded by President Kruger and his
government with divided feelings. Uitlanders foreigners in
Johannesburg akeady outnumbered the Boers considerably, and
were asking for the franchise.

In England the growth of a British enclave in the heart of the
Transvaal did not pass unnoticed. The Saturday Review predicted
prophetically that 'the actual owners of the soil* in Kruger's
country would soon dwindle into *an insignificant minority'.
The Times considered it necessary to point out that 'the subject is
assuming proportions that must soon engage the attention of the
Imperial Government . . . the transformation which has only just
begun, must be carried further until the political power now
monopolized by the Boers is shared with the preponderating mass
of new citizens mainly of British descent'. It was also the first but
not by far the last time that The Times expressed the hope that
the ticklish question of the Uitlander franchise would be easier
to settle when the sixty-six-year-old President Kruger would 'pay
the debt of nature*.

Wishing to find a means of meeting this precarious situation
which would be just to his own people as well as to the Uitlanders,
President Kruger went to Johannesburg to gain his own im-
pressions. He was to address a mass meeting of local residents and
also hear their opinions. When the President appeared on the plat-
form and was about to begin his speech, a few young hooligans
thought it a good opportunity for expressing their patriotism
in musical form by singing 'Rule Britannia'. President Kruger,
having watted in the expectation that someone would restore
order, began to show signs of anger. With a contemptuous look
he shouted at the gleeful singers: *bly stil keep quiet/ They
burst into roars of laughter. The President turned his back on

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

them, took his hat and walked with dignity out of the hall. He
returned immediately to Pretoria, Later he heard that on the same
night two ruffians of Uitlanders had climbed on the roof of the
landrosfs building, the seat of the district administrator, and
had pulled down the VierkJeur the flag of the Transvaal and
trampled on it.

Judging by these two incidents, one can understand why
President Kruger did not consider the Johannesburg rabble
worthy of becoming burghers of the Transvaal. By the weight
of their numbers they might soon push his Boers against the wall.

Rhodes did not take great interest in the Rand at all. The
Goldfields merely had to help supply him with the means to
materialize his 'dreams'. In Kimberley he was the master and
dictator. On the Rand he was only one among many, and his old
opponent, J. B. Robinson, saw to it that Rhodes should not
repeat his Kimberley manoeuvres of obtaining a monopoly. In
Rhodes' mind there existed nothing but the North. Though he
was duly re-elected in his old constituency of Barkly West in
1888 he could not spare the time to attend the session in 1889.
He felt that he would first have to consolidate his political
position in South Africa in order to win over the Cape Parlia-
ment for his drive 'up yonder*. By his alliance with the Colonial
Office and with British capital and by seeking and accepting a
Royal Charter for the exploration of the North, Rhodes had
sinned against his own much-publicized demand of 'eliminating
the Imperial Factor'. It was now up to him to make this contra-
diction plausible to Hofmeyr and the Bond and also to make his
approaching conquest of Mashonaland sufficiently palatable to
them, since the 'Mole' still maintained that the North really fell
within the sphere of interest of the Transvaal. He needed the
Bond's collaboration in order to win over the Cape Parliament
for his northern railway projects. He could not 'square* a man
like Hofmeyr with Chartered shares, though these shares, with
a guaranteed immediate profit of z to 3 each, had appeased
the conscience of several other Bondsmen. Hofmeyr remained
sceptical. When he met Rhodes after his return from London
with the Charter he taxed him:

'You have got hold of the Interior, now be generous. Let us
down gently.'

Rhodes shook his hand and said: TH take you with mel*

RHODES OF AFRICA

Now that It could no longer do him any harm to be repotted
in England as a dangerous anti-Imperialist ready to 'cut the
painter', he let himself go in condemning a British Colonial policy
which allowed Africa to be mapped out in Berlin. He told his
voters in Barkly West:

. . . My belief is that the development of South Africa should fall
to that country or countries which by their progress shall show that
they are best entitled to it; and I have faith that, remote as our starting
point is, the development will occut through the Cape Colony;

that we shall be able to obtain the dominant position throughout

the interior . . . and I have confidence that the people of the Cape
Colony have the will, and the pluck, and the energy to adopt this
as their inheritance,

In spite of these pompous words, Rhodes preferred to have his
conquest of the North organized by English dukes, financed by
international stock exchange gamblers, sanctioned by the British
Crown and directed by the Colonial Office. There was certainly
nothing South African about the British South Africa Chartered
Company, the head office of which was in London and on the
Board of which was not to be found a single South African. Only
when it came to pulling the hot chestnuts out of the fire and when
he needed courageous young men to do the dirty work connected
with the annexation, did he want South Africans. In return he
gave them only words, high-sounding phrases and empty slogans
such as:

When we commenced that policy of taking over the North and
you must not give me the sole credit the thought that guided me
in my ideas was that the world was limited, and that the country to
which we all belong should have as much of it as it could possibly
get. This was a consideration which affected, not only the people
at home, but the people here, including not only English but Dutch.
If we are a great people, it is because we are an amalgamation of
races. . . .

Such words were meant principally to flatter the Bond and to
destroy any suspicions of his imperialistic aspirations. Hofmeyr
could not be so easily deceived. Facts and figures of stock exchange
transactions with Chartered shares spoke too loudly against
Rhodes' sincerity. At one time, at the beginning of 1890, Rhodes
was seriously contemplating whether it would not be better for

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

him to do without political fetters and drop his Parliamentary
activities. He had already decided to resign from Parliament but
friends, especially Merriman and some young Liberals, men like
Sauer, Molteno and Schreiner, persuaded him to remain. They
had appealed to him previously to 'give his time and attention to
other things than mining . . . to the politics of this Colony and
the States adjoining in fact the whole of South Africa*. The
suggestion that he should aspire to the Premiership of the Cape
and that they would gladly serve under him received from him
a willing ear. Master of Kimberley Dictator of the North
Prime Minister of the Cape . . . was not this the road towards
the Presidency of a Federated Greater South Africa? As Prime
Minister, Rhodes predicted, quite accurately, he would get on
much better with the newly appointed Governor, Robinson's
successor, than if he came to him as a representative of the
Chartered Company to ask for favours. Hofmeyr and the Bond,
however, would have the last word, since every Cabinet depended
on their grace.

He was now determined to throw in his lot fully with the
Bond. He needed the Afrikaners in order to fight 'Kragerism',
which, with its racial, nationalistic and religious insularity, and its
aim of hegemony in South Africa under the Transvaal Vierkhur y
threatened the success of a federation of South Africa. This
danger could only be fought hand in hand with the Bond.
Hofmeyr was also striving for a South African federation and
believed that out of a complete amalgamation of Dutch and
British there should grow a South African nation as an indepen-
dent part of the British Empire, endowed with complete home rule.

Rhodes played up to the Bondsmen, most of whom were
farmers, by referring to his ancestors as simple British yeomen,
though only a few months previously in London, in order to
impress his new feudal connections, he had promoted the ances-
tral cattle-dealers to the status of gentry. He went on a 'daring
raid' to Paarl, the idyllic little town where the Bond had been
founded and which was venerated as the citadel of ware Afrikaner-
dom, and showed the Bondsmen a heart throbbing with anxiety
for the welfare of the Afrikaner boer: * We must protect our grain
and our wine and whatever the country can produce. . . . First
of all let us see that when the farmer puts his plough into the
soil, he reaps a profitable harvest. . . .*

RHODES OF AFRICA

He went to Stelienbosch, the seat of Afrikaner learning, to
address the young Afrikaner students at the Victoria College on
graduation day* When Rhodes had finished his speech the head
student, a slender youth, stepped on the platform. There was
something arrogant in his bearing, yet his face, too serious in
contrast to his youthful appearance, expressed the humility of a
scholar. His personality impressed more than it attracted. It
seemed to lack the warmth of emotional power.

His words, in spite of an initial shyness, came forth in well-
formed phrases; his deeply reflected thoughts were expressed in
a sonorous and flexible voice cleverly employed to bring out
intended oratorical effects. He spoke of Pan-Africanism. Rhodes
immediately ceased to look bored and listened with interest to
what was a pleasing tune to his ears. Afterwards he inquired after
the name of this youngster: Jan Christiaan Smuts, he was told,
aged twenty, the son of a Cape farmer. Later he told Hofmeyr:
*Keep your eye on that young fellow Smuts!'

In order to please Hofmeyr, Rhodes gave way to many of his
demands. He consented to religious school education, to the
cancellation of all Sunday train services and to a disfranchisement
of "raw* Natives. Hofmeyr had to pay for these favours by voting
with the Bond against motions disagreeable to Rhodes such as,
for instance, 'an export fax on diamonds, suggested as one of
his many means of vengeance by the 'Buccaneer*.

These political meanderings were, of course, only part of
Rhodes* northern scheme, meant principally to cover his rear in
the Cape by neutralizing the Bond. At the same time he wished
to protect the northern territories from further German, Portu-
guese and Belgian penetration, to eliminate Krugerism, to finance
his railway projects and to organize the pending occupation and
the future policing of Mashonaland in the cheapest possible way.
As Prime Minister of the Cape all these objects would certainly
be attained smoothly and quickly.

If Britain preferred to colonize *on the cheap* by means of
private enterprise why should not Cecil Rhodes follow her
example and let someone else pay for the expensive business of
invading and occupying a large country? Rhodes had therefore
conceived a plan whereby the Bechuanaland Police, which had
been brought to a strength of about 800 men, should serve as
a military protection to his pioneers by keeping Lobengula's impis

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

in check. If good old Sir Hercules had still been ruling in Cape
Town's Government House no difficulties would have been laid
across his path. It was going to prove rather more difficult, if not
impossible, to twist the old Governor's successor. Sir Henry
Brougham Loch, around one's little finger. Downing Street had
not looked with favour at the close financial interest of the former
Governor in Rhodes' industrial enterprises. Sir Henry, they were
certain, could not be 'squared* by anyone.

Carefully briefed and thoroughly warned, Loch came to South
Africa with a slight bias against, and a strong distrust of, Rhodes.
Still kept informed by his old friends about all happenings in
Government House, Rhodes decided to overcome the new
Governor's antipathy by taking him *on the personal*. He had not,
however, expected quite such a brusque refiisal to his suggestion
of using the Bechuanaland Police for his march into Mashonaland.
Even his offer to pay for their work Loch brushed aside curtly*
The Governor demanded categorically a proper military force
organized and paid for by the Chartered Company.

Rhodes consulted military experts who told him that he would
need at least 2,500 men for the invasion and occupation. Impos-
sible! It would eat up at once the Chartered Company's entire
capital of i million. Rhodes remembered that Selous had men-
tioned a plan of how to invade Mashonaland without passing
through Matabeleland. Unfortunately he was at that moment not
on very good terms with Selous as the hunter was one of the
few in Bulawayo who had not received any compensation for his
justified claims. One would need Selous now if only to keep him
quiet! Selous knew Lobengula's realm better than anyone else,
and, what was still more important, Selous, Rhodes was told, had
enough proof to show that Mashonaland was a country indepen-
dent of Lobengula. In Selous 5 opinion Mashonaland had never
been conquered by the Matabele. There was no doubt, he
maintained, that the Rudd concession, having no legal standing,
was invalid and the Charter thus granted under false pretences.

In order to put some pressure on Rhodes, Selous secured a
concession from one of the Mashona chiefs. But Rhodes was not
unduly worried, knowing how easy it was to obtain the signature
of a poor credulous chief. On the other hand, he did not want a
man of Selous' reputation in the enemies' camp and therefore
considered it wiser to appease him. In his talk with Selous,

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes argued heatedly about the -value of thek concessions.
Selous, as an experienced hunter, remained calm, and aimed at
Rhodes* most vulnerable spot: his fear of adverse publicity in the
English Press. Casually Selous remarked that he had prepared
articles for some English papers advocating his views on the
question. Rhodes saw at once, as he reported to the Duke of
Abercorn in a letter dated March 1890, 'the danger of our position
if a series of articles appeared in the papers from a man of Selous'
position. . . .* It cost Rhodes 2,000 ('out of my own private
fund*) to settle with Selous and win Mm over to his side for the
onslaught on Mashonaland. Selous now showed great enthu-
siasm. He had a private account to settle with Lobengula who
had thrown him out of Bulawayo and forbidden him ever to set
foot in Matabeleland again. Selous later explained his strange
change of attitude by saying that he had then been in a very bad
position financially anfd had therefore accepted a position in the
Chartered Company as Adviser for the Mashonaland occupation.
His acquisition was a windfall for Rhodes' company, even at the
high salary of 3,000 a year, since there was no one whose
knowledge of the Interior could compare with that of Selous'.

According to Selous' plan Matabeleland would be avoided
altogether by building a road about 400 miles long from the
border of British Bechuanaland leading directly to the eastern
slopes of Mashonaland. Besides prospecting for gold, they could
start bringing in settlers to cultivate this fertile land. Again
Rhodes shuddered when he thought of the costs even with cheap
Native labour. Another, cheaper way had to be found. The idea
came to him of collecting a couple of hundred well-armed adven-
turous young men, paying them well and setting out on a sudden
raid on Bulawayo, capturing fat *Lob* and making him accept
the fait accomplil

In his casual way Rhodes discussed this mad pkn with several
people, one of whom, after having wined well, boasted of how
lie would soon throw over the whole lot of bloody Kaffir chiefs
and conquer all the Interior with a handful of chaps. This sodden
talk came to the ears of Sir Henry Loch, who told Rhodes that
silly rumours of an intended raid into Matabeleland were being
passed round but that he had laughed them off as he could not
imagine that Rhodes would run title risk of having his Charter
recalled. . . . Rhodes took the hint. He had now to accept Selous'

[200]

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plan. But the more he pondered over it the more desperate did
he become, all the more so because Dr Jameson from Bulawayo
was urging him co hurry since he could not keep Lobengula
sweet much longer.

Deeply worried, Rhodes was sitting at breakfast in the
Kimberley Club when he saw the familiar, dark round face of
little Frank Johnson. Though only twenty-three years old, this
youngster had already shown his smartness, courage and business
acumen in many a deal. He had been one of the many concession-
hunters in Bulawayo, but had carried little favour with Lobengula.
Rhodes, always keen to squeeze information out of others, invited
him to his table. Rhodes began to talk, or rather think aloud,
about Mashonaland, cursing those arrogant military experts who
tried to make one believe that it would take 2,500 men, and at
Colonial pay at that, for that little excursion to Mashonaland.
Ridiculous 1

Little Johnson agreed. He himself, he said, would venture on
such an expedition with about 200 men, picked volunteers, at very
small expense.

By lunch-time Johnson showed Rhodes sheets of paper covered
with figures which gave an account of what he would need for
200 men in provisions, wagons, oxen, implements, arms, uniforms
and horses. Rhodes, not interested in the details, became impatient
and tried to pull out the last sheet with the final figure. But
Johnson insisted on showing him each item until he concluded:
* . . And the whole amounts to exactly 94,100.' Five days kter
Rhodes signed a cheque for that amount.

When Rhodes submitted the new plan to the Governor, Sir
Henry expressed his doubts about the safety of such an expedition
without military cover and again demanded that Rhodes should
provide protection by an adequate police force. Rhodes, still
fighting shy of the expense, again suggested that the Bechuana-
land Police should do the policing of Mashonaland and that he
would pay for it. When Rhodes became insistent the Governor
rang for his secretary and dictated a cable to the Colonial Office
in which he reported Rhodes* suggestion and asked them to
consider the repudiation of the Charter in the event of Rhodes*
further insistence.

At last Rhodes was made to understand that Sir Henry Loch
was not the man to accept instructions from him. He was forced

[201]

RHODES OF AFRICA

to organize the British South Africa Chartered Company Police
Force, consisting of about 500 men and at Colonial pay!

On 10 March 1890 there stood on parade in Kimberley 184
hand-picked pioneers, weU armed and in smart uniforms, each
one as fine a specimen of South African manhood as one could
wish for. In each one of them there burned the lust for adventure,
the love of a free life on the veld and the hope of finding a secure
future in a new and unknown land which would be conquered
by their own hands. In Mashonaland each would be rewarded by
a 3,ooo-acre farm and fifteen gold claims but until then they had
to be satisfied with 71. 6 d. a day.

The pioneers first went to a spot on the northern frontier of
Bechuanaland, where they were met by the Chartered Police and
200 Bechuanas hired from King Khama as road-makers and
guides. Selous was there and Dr Jameson arrived from Bulawayo.

On Selous' advice two selected pure-bred white bulls were
sent to Lobenguk as a present which, according to Matabele
custom, indicated the peaceful intentions of the giver. When after
two days the messengers arrived to report Lobengula's acceptance
Dr Jameson performed a dance of mad delight: 'That's all right!
That will save us a lot of trouble!'

On 27 June 1890 Selous gave the signal for advance and the
five hundred-odd men set out and made history. They endured
the hazards of an almost tropical life with stoicism. These were
not professional soldiers or down-and-out adventurers, but
average young South Africans, most of them accustomed to a
life of comfort and ease. Over them there always hovered the
shadow of Lobengula. Twice he sent one of his indunas under
impi-e&CQtt with the King's order to the columns to leave the
country. Selous' fears grew: the wild bushy territory was simply
inviting an ambush in the traditional Matabele style.

Lobenguk, in his ignorance and keen belief in superstitions,
must have thought, when he received the reports of his scouts,
that the White Man had come to rob him of Ms country with the
help of magic. What could poor lonely Lobengula do with all the
might of his courageous impis against the witchcraft of the 'Man
who made the Big Hole', who could make the sun and if his
impis did not He even two or three suns shine in the darkness
of the night with a brilliance that hurt the eyes? What could poor
lost Lobengula do against these white magicians who could

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A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

produce storms with lightning sparks as high as mountains and
make the ground roar and thunder so that the soil was thrown
high into the air, leaving big holes into which a whole hut
could fit?

With an eye on Native superstitions Selous had equipped the
columns with powerful naval searchlights. The awe-inspiring
thunderstorms were produced by dynamite charges laid outside
the camp at night and periodically exploded by an electric wire.

On 15 August the columns reached the high veld and were
now out of danger. A fort was erected named Fort Victoria, and
another farther north, Fort Charter, to secure their line of com-
munication. On ii September 1890,, well within ninety days as
guaranteed by Johnson and Selous, they arrived at Mt. Hampden,
their goal, destined to become the future centre of the Chartered
country. A strong fort was built there and given the name of
Salisbury in honour of the British Prime Minister.

It had been Rhodes' intention to accompany the pioneers on
their march. Hofrneyr, however, had asked him to stay in Cape
Town as a political crisis was calling for a change in government.
The Governor sent for Rhodes to form a new government, and
Rhodes accepted the mandate provided that Hofmeyr would come
in with him. Hofmeyr declined but promised the full support of
the Bond. On 17 July, a few days after his pioneers had crossed
the border into Mashonaland, Cecil Rhodes, turned thirty-seven
years old a few days earlier, became Prime Minister of the Cape
Colony.

Rhodes did not find it as easy to form a Cabinet as to select
the board of directors of a company, but finally he got together
what he described as the 'Ministry of All the Talents* which in-
cluded several prominent Cape Liberals such as his friends
Merriman^ Sauer and Rose-Innes.

His first parliamentary effort as Prime Minister turned out to
be disappointing, Rhodes was unprepared in his subject a Ballot
Bill and was very nervous, spoke badly and was almost inaudible
to the House. The result of the first division resulted in a majority
of one.

On 21 July came the expected attack in Parliament on his dual
position as Prime Minister and Director of the Chartered Com-
pany to which Rhodes replied rather weakly that 'one position
could be worked with the other, and each to the benefit of alT,

RHODES OF AFRICA

Many serious politicians and unbiased members of the public
foresaw that Rhodes' not only dual but triple position would lead
to unpleasant complications. It was pointed out that Rhodes, the
Premier, would have to deal with contracts entered into with
Rhodes, the Director of Chartered, and that Rhodes, the Premier,
would have to decide important matters concerning Rhodes, the
Diamond monopolist, Rhodes, the Goldfields Director, and
Rhodes, the railway contractor. Olive Schreiner, the eminent
South African authoress, expressed the feelings of many in the
country when she wrote:

The only big man we have here is Rhodes and the only big thing
the Chartered Company. I feel a nervous, and almost painfully
intense interest in the man and his career. I am so afraid of his
making a mistake, as he would do, I think, if he accepted the Prime
Ministership of this Colony, as there is some talk of his doing. I
don't see how he can play the hand of the Chartered Company and
the hand of the Colony at the same time.

Hofmeyr, when worried politicians asked him his opinion,
replied that he preferred Rhodes to be exposed in his multiple
private capacities to criticism by Parliament, which would be
possible by censuring him as Premier, than to let him do what he
liked without having to render account to the general public.

Others feared that Rhodes' expansive policy would involve the
country in great expenses while the profits derived from such
adventures would probably flow into the pockets of the share-
holders of Rhodes* various companies. Voices were heard com-
plaining about Rhodes' practice of 'squaring' the people whom
he needed and that his activity in this respect, with the help of
Chartered shares, was already noticeable in the changed attitude
of several Bondsmen. A danger existed, they said, of a general
corruption of public opinion by such nefarious methods and a
further danger that he would now apply to the whole country his
unpleasant spy-system which he had woiked out to perfection in
Kimberley. Men with so much money at their disposal, they
feared, and with such great political and economic powers, might
easily use their chances as a jumping-board into permanent
dictatorial independence.

The English Tory Press hailed his nomination with great satis-
faction. A writer in the August issue of The Nineteenth Century^

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after reminding the new Prime Minister that *to implant English
rule in all the outlying places of the Globe is the manifest destiny
of our race', proceeded to teach him:

... If the Dutch settlers set themselves ia the way of development
of South Africa after our British fashion, they will have to go to
the wall. The principle of the survival of the fittest has decided that
in the end it is the British, not the Dutch, element that must be
supreme in the Cape as elsewhere.

This chauvinistic outburst did not tally with Rhodes' official
policy, which had as its chief aim a reconciliation of Englishmen
and Afrikaners with the prospect of a federation of all South
African states, a union which he expected to be brought about
by Free Trade, a Railway Convention, a Customs Union and
'closer and closer ties between the Cape and the neighbouring
States'. However, with his finger raised in warning at the
Transvaal about its own drive towards a federation under its
Vierfdeur flag, he said:

It is customary to speak of a United South Africa as possible,
within the near future. If we mean a complete Union with the same
flag, I see very serious difficulties. I know myself that I am not
prepared at any time to forfeit my flag. . . .

What would happen if 'the same flag* was the Union Jack, the
speaker did not reveal; but it was interesting to learn that the
Prime Minister or was it the Director of the Chartered Company
speaking? expressed the certainty that Vithin [his] lifetime the
limits of the Cape Colony will stretch as far as the Zambezi',
which would certainly be good business for the gentlemen of
the Board and the shareholders of his Company, though the
territory of this company was by Royal Charter meant to be part
of the Empire under the direct control of Whitehall and not of
the Cape. Rhodes once again, to please the Bond, wore the coat
of the Colonial protagonist to scare away the Imperial Factor*.

As a result of Salisbury's policy of appeasement and his fear of
expensive Colonial adventures, France, Portugal, Belgium and
Germany had all been allowed to swallow large slices of Central
Africa while Britain looked on. Salisbury's enthusiasm about the
Cape to Cairo route had not lasted long.

[Z0 5 ]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes did not realize that changed conditions in European
politics had forced England to re-direct her foreign policy in the
last months. Therefore the latest moves in Downing Street con-
cerning problems in Central Africa seemed to him enigmatic,
contradictory and suicidal.

In March 1890 'the Pilot was dropped* in Berlin and WUhelm II
declared that he would from now on as c his own Chancellor* steer
the ship of State along 'the new course". The Kaiser wanted to
draw Britain into an Alliance which Salisbury tried to evade by
all kinds of pretexts. Salisbury was willing to go so far as to *keep
in step with Germany* and even to make concessions in Africa.
He therefore rejected the treaties which Stanley had made with
various Native chiefs by which an all-British corridor from Lake
Tanganyika to the Sudan would have been established and the
Cape to Cairo route secured.

Germany immediately claimed these territories as falling within
her sphere of influence. Britain protested only half-heartedly. This
surrender, particularly of the Lake districts, could have been
avoided since the Kaiser, not wishing to irritate England in view
of other, more important, negotiations taking place at the time,
had given instructions to the German Ambassador to drop the
matter if Britain were insistent. Thus all Stanley's trouble and
the propaganda campaign he had instigated c to poke up the
British Lion ? had been in vain* On i July 1890 the Anglo-German
Treaty was signed by which Britain gave Heligoland in exchange
for Germany's consent to British influence over Nyasaland and
the north-eastern corner of Mashonaland including the Stevenson
Road, Uganda and the territories in the North beyond the Juba
River to the confines of Egypt. In the south-west Britain conceded
to Germany a strip of land, afterwards called "Caprivi ZipfeP.

Rhodes and his friends raised a storm of indignation over this
cession of the 'wasp-waist' to Germany by means of which the
German south-west Colony was brought up to the Zambezi.
They were still more aagry when they heat d that Salisbury had
agreed to Germany's driving a wedge between Lake Nyasa and
Tanganyika, thus cutting off for ever an all-British Cape to
Cairo route.

Salisbury replied in Parliament that the only criticism "had
arisen from a very curious idea which has become prevalent in
this country that there is some special advantage in handling a

[206]

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

stretch of territory extending all the way from Cape Town to the
sources of the Nile*.

To the Queen, Lord Salisbury reported his real intentions in
signing the treaty:

. . . any indefinite postponement of a settlement in Africa would
render it very difficult to maintain terms of amity with Germany,
and would force us to change our system of alliance in Europe. The
alliance of France instead of the alliance of Germany must necessarily
involve the early evacuation of Egypt under very unfavourable
conditions.

Rhodes, who naturally knew nothing of Salisbury's true
motives, rose in Parliament exactly eleven days after becoming
Prime Minister, to give notice of the following motion:

That this House regrets that the Government of this country was
not directly represented in the recent arrangement entered into
between the British Government and the German Empire in so far
as those arrangements affected Territories south of the Zambezi and
is of opinion that the Government of this colony should have a
voice in any future proposed arrangement of boundaries south of
that river.

Still worse was to come. Shortly before the pioneers had
reached their goal in Mashonaland, Rhodes learnt that Lord
Salisbury, on 20 August 1890, had signed a Convention with
Portugal ceding the greater part of Barotseland and the whole
of Manicaland to Portugal. Rhodes, who considered it a personal
affront if Whitehall dared to make any move on the African
continent without first consulting him, bombarded Downing
Street with complaints, reproaches and fulminations. He wrote
to the Foreign Office:

I do not think I am claiming too much from your department in
asking you to give some consideration to my views . . . and if you
have any regard for the work I am doing, you will show it by now
dropping the Anglo-Portuguese agreement.

Rhodes and his associates then showed and unfortunately it
was not the last occasion upon which they did so how such
complex colonial problems could be solved over the heads of
governments, cabinets, ministers and diplomats. Shortly after his

[207]

RHODES OF AFRICA

arrival In Fort Salisbury, Archibald Colquhoun, who had been
nominated Administrator of the Chartered territories, together
with Dr Jameson and Seious and a handful of Chartered police,
had gone into Manicaland and made an agreement with the Chief
by which, for the annual sum of 100, his country was ceded to
the Chartered Company. This territory had been exploited for
some time by a Portuguese syndicate. After learning of the agree-
ment between the Chief and the Chartered Company the directors
of the Portuguese syndicate charged a colourful adventurer,
Manuel Antonio de Souza, also known as Captain Mor Goveia,
a half-caste who specialized in gun- and rum-tunning, slave traffic
and smuggling, to invade the Manica Chief's kraal and arrest him.

In an operetta-skirmish on 15 November 1890, Dr Jameson
with a platoon of Chartered police overran the kraal, dispersed
the Portuguese * occupation army 7 , arrested Goveia and a director
of the Portuguese syndicate and sent them as 'prisoners of war'
under escort to Cape Town. The Chartered Company was thus
in full possession of Manicaland.

Since Dr Jameson's action, and the train of thought which
moved him to infringe all existing civil, criminal and inter-
national laws, and also Rhodes* attitude towards this assumption
of authority by officials of the Chartered Company constituted a
remarkable precedent, it becomes necessary to make a closer
investigation of the incident.

The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty was concluded on 20 August
1890. It can be assumed that the news of it had reached South
Africa within at most a couple of days. Immediately after the
pioneers had reached Fort Salisbury a postal service was estab-
lished in Mashonaland and it was officially stated that a letter to
Rhodes arrived at the first Bechuanaland postal station within
five days. From Kimberley to Bechuanaland the weekly mail-
coaches covered the 400 miles in three days. The treaty would
have been known in the Company's headquarters at Fort Salisbury
not later than 3 1 August. It can also be assumed that within the
ten weeks till 1 5 November, Rhodes would have communicated
with Dr Jameson, who was about 300 miles north of Fort Salis-
bury, and given him his instructions. It is also more than question-
able whether Rhodes and Dr Jameson would have incurred the
high costs of a military expedition into Manicaland, or risked the
loss of the Charter, if the British authorities, perhaps not in

[208]

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

London or at the Cape, but certainly his friend Shlppard in
Bechuanaland, had not known about it. Perhaps this raid was the
interpretation and practical demonstration of Lord Salisbury's
answer to Rhodes' question of where to stop: 'Take all you can
get and ask me afterwards.' No records exist which show that
the Company was reprimanded for this action,

The tactics which Rhodes used to acquire Barotseland were
hardly more commendable. A Kimberley merchant had obtained
a concession for this territory of 200,000 square miles from its
Paramount Chief Lewanika. It passed into the hands of a
Kimberley syndicate and was finally acquired by Rhodes for
9,000 and 10,000 Chartered shares while the Chief received only
an annual payment of 200 and 4 per cent royalty on mining.
Lewanika had unsuccessfully asked the previous year for his
country to be made a British protectorate. He now protested
against the annexation by the Chartered Company. Rhodes tried
to settle with the Chief on the basis of an increased annual pay-
ment of 2,000, but Lewanika beseeched Sir Henry Loch to be
accepted as a "Child of the Great White Queen*. With his letter
he sent as a sign of his devotion two flawless large elephant tusks.
The letter was intercepted by Sir Sidney Shippard upon whose
recommendation the request was rejected and the tusks ended up
as decorations in the board-room of the Chartered Company's
London office, which strange fact the Daily Chronicle referred to
as 'the meanest form of embezzlement, not from the Nation but
from the Queen personally*.

Now that the Company had established headquarters in Fort
Salisbury, the pioneers were disbanded and they set out to peg
their gold claims. Hundreds of adventurous men were streaming
into Mashonaland. Rhodes was burning with a desire to see with
his own eyes the land of his dreams and only when Sir Henry
Loch notified him officially of the Government's objection that
the Prime Minister of the country should expose himself to the
danger of being captured by Natives which might call for the use
of the whole military force of the Colony at the Government's
expense to rescue him, did he postpone his trip. Loch did, how-
ever, invite him to join his party which was to go to Bechuanaland
as far as the Matabele border.

Together with two parliamentarians, members of the Bond, as
his guests Rhodes joined the Governor's ^expedition, consisting

RHODES OF AFRICA

of a Hussar escort, Bechuanaland Police and four big coaches
laden only with provisions. Rhodes travelled alone in a Cape cart
and kept aloof from the rest of the party. Just before sunset he
would ride on ahead and choose the site for the camp. He chose
the camp-sites not only for the beauty of their view but also for
their cleanliness, A piece of paper, an old tin or a broken bottle
would be sufficient reason for him to ride on* even if it meant
having his dinner an hour later. In the morning he would insist
that the camp was left as clean as it had been found* The same
cleanliness he applied to himself in the veld: every day he appeared
in a pair of immaculate white trousers, which did not remain
clean for long, but of which Toni, his valet, an intelligent half-
caste *Cape boy*, always had to keep a sufficient stock, his usual
Norfolk jacket and a broad-brimmed slouch-hat. He shaved every
morning, even when on trek: 'I believe I should shave if I were
dying/ At about eleven o'clock a stop was always made to escape
the midday heat and Rhodes, after fortifying himself with a bottle
of champagne mixed with stout or Pilsener, would lie down in the
shade of a tree. During the midday rest he would read pocket-
editions of Marcus Aurelius, Plato's Dialogues and Gibbon or he
would ponder over his crumpled old map of Africa, with compass,
ruler, and pencil.

Every precaution had to be taken against lions because the
country was, as Rhodes put it, 'lousy with lions*. Once two native
servants leading a beautiful chestnut, who had strayed behind,
were missed and later the bones of both men and of the horse were
found with evidence that they had been devoured by lions. Another
morning Rhodes himself had an unpleasant encounter with a lion
not far from the camp. He was seen running for his life towards the
camp, his pyjama trousers dangling down to his knees. When he
arrived, breathless, he swore loudly at that 'King of Beasts' which
did not respect even unavoidable human hygienic functions.

Finally they arrived at the farthest point of the Protectorate,
Fort Macloutsie, from where Rhodes could look into the Land of
Ophir. He wanted to go farther. Loch objected and was not
particularly amiable after Rhodes* impolite sedusive behaviour on
the way, which led him to speak of Rhodes as Very gruff and
abrupt, not to say surly*. Rhodes, annoyed at being restrained
from going to Mashonaland, replied in a voice which cracked
into its highest register:

[210]

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

*I have not come on this tiresome journey merely to see the
British Protectorate but my own protectorate?

The Governor did not like this arrogant description of the
Chartered Company's concessioned territory in Mashonaland and
dutifully reported his resentment to Whitehall. As a compromise
Rhodes agreed that he would go as far as Tuii, the Company's
first station.

On his way back from the North, Rhodes, in his new capacity
as Prime Minister, wanted to look up President Kruger.
This time a reception was arranged for him according to his
position. A few miles outside Pretoria an officer saluted smartly
when he met Rhodes' party and asked: 'Are these the wagons
of President Rhodes?' Rhodes' red face indicated Ms embarrass-
ment:

'Well, I am Rhodes is there anything I can do for you?' He
was welcomed as the guest of the Transvaal Government. Early
the next morning he was fetched by a state-carriage and brought
to the President's house under a military escort of honour.
Together they drank coffee out of enormous cups and soon
President Kruger was enveloped in clouds of smoke, which he
puffed from his long-stemmed porcelain-headed pipe.

Conversation was slow. Kruger did not want to discuss
Rhodes' railway projects. He had declined to have the Cape to
Kimberley line, which had reached the Vaal River less than 100
miles from Pretoria., brought to his capital and had also objected
to a railway connection with the Cape via Bloemfontein. Appar-
ently he did not want any competition to his own railway, or, as
he wanted to have it called, steam tramway, between Delagoa
Bay and Pretoria, though it had not yet been completed owing
to difficulties with the Portuguese Government, the shareholders
and the constructors. Rhodes made great efforts to change the
President's chilly attitude towards him:

*We must work together, your honour, I know that the
Republic needs a seaport. You must have Delagoa Bay/

An immense cloud of smoke was blown furiously out of the
old man's mouth. Kruger, one could see, was having difficulty
in controlling his temper. How dared this Englishman offer Mm
a port which did not belong to him when he knew that the
Transvaal had been striving for many years to obtain permission
from Britain for an outlet to the sea in Swaziland? As soon as he

[ZII]

RHODES OF AFRICA

was sure that he had regained his usual calm Kruger answered

quietly:

'How can we work together that way? The port belongs to the
Portuguese, and they will never give it up.'

*We must simply take it.'

*I can't take the property of other people. If the Portuguese
will not sell it, I will not accept it, even if you were to offer it to
me. A curse rests upon ill-gotten goods/

The audience ended abruptly and was just as futile as had been
a meeting six months previously between President Kruger and
Sir Henry Loch and Rhodes at Blignauts Pont, where Loch had
declined to cede Swaziland to the Transvaal and had declared
Swaziland independent. A governing committee of three, repre-
senting Britain, the Transvaal and Swaziland was to have juris-
diction over the Whites. The outlet to the sea was mentioned in
very vague terms. As a condition for this Convention the
Governor asked for an official renunciation by the Transvaal of
all territories in the North. Loch warned Kruger that Britain
would consider any move of the Transvaal into Matabeleland or
Mashonaland as a Violation of the territory and an infringement
of the right of KM. Government'. Though he was not at all
satisfied with this Swaziland Convention, Kruger signed it, but
it was never ratified.

The vow of renunciation by the Transvaal was necessary to
Rhodes because of the threat of an organized push of about 2,000
Boers into Mashonaland behind which stood General Joubert
Kruger was not really interested in this trek to the North and not
only because his rival Joubert was connected with it.

When Rhodes at the end of November 1890 returned from his
visit to Pretoria he found Cape Town in the midst of a severe
financial crisis which had followed upon the closing of the doors
of the Cape's leading bank, the Good Hope Bank, and of other
colonial banks. Rhodes also experienced a great reverse in the
price of Chartered shares which dropped from 3 to I2j. Only
by an immediate personal appearance in London would he be
able to save the situation, and thus at the end of November he
sailed for England.

Soon after his arrival the Queen invited him, as the Prime
Minister of the Cape, to dinner at Windsor. Her Majesty's interest
in Rhodes was shown by the fact that he received the distinction

[212]

A COUNTRY FOR BREAKFAST

of dining with her almost in private. Besides two ladies and two
gentlemen of her personal suite Sir Henry Loch and Rhodes were
the only guests.

The Queen had been well informed by Loch of Rhodes*
political and financial activities. She had a remarkable memory,
particularly where it concerned even the slightest anti-monarchist
tendencies in someone's past and the name of Rhodes had
reminded her immediately of his utterance about the 'elimination
of the Imperial Factor'. Loch was able to dispel her scruples
about Rhodes* loyalty. With satisfaction she noted in her journal
that according to Loch, Rhodes *a tremendous strong man*
was *a very remarkable, honest, loyal man, and entirely anti-
Republican'.

After dinner the Queen astonished Rhodes by her extensive
knowledge of South African affairs. Her clear and determined
views on Africa's future showed the business-like brain of a
statesman. Rhodes took her observations as a cue for delivering
his romantic virtuoso piece about painting those empty spaces in
Africa red, British red, leading into the climax of his performance,
the never-failing refrain of the "Cape to Cairo* plan. The Queen
was delighted. A very good judge of men, she decided that this
"tremendous strong man* could be relied on to fulfil his plans.
Translating from Rhodes' enthusiastic language, she concluded
the entry in her journal with the simple words:

. . . He said Great Britain was the only country fit to colonize, no
other nation succeeded. He hoped in time to see the English rule
extend from the Cape to Egypt. He thought everything would be
arranged and the difficulties got over.

[ZI 3 ]

CHAPTER XII

ON THE PERSONAL

FOB. a place in which to make the laws of their land, people
all over the world have built architectural absurdities in the
form of medieval castles, Gothic cathedrals or Greek temples.
A building was planned in 1874 for the Parliament of the Cape
Colony which corresponded with these ideas in combining the
features of a Renaissance palace, a classical theatre and the dome
of a Baroque cathedral. The foundation-stone had already been
laid when it was found that the design blatantly resembled a
building in Illinois, that the foundation was faulty and that the
costs would considerably exceed the stipulated amount. The plans
were altered and the result was a red-brick monstrosity partly
masked by sand-stone. Only clumsy Doric columns, completely
out of style, remained of the architect's classical intentions, while
the sun-heated glass roof reminded the perspiring law-makers
during summer sessions of the intended colossal dome. After
eleven years the building was completed at more than four times
the original cost. Pressed into too narrow a space and without
taking advantage of one of the world's most impressive views as
background, Cape Town's House of Assembly presents an example
of late Victorian architectural style at its worst. It looks like a
public convenience with megalomaniac aspirations to become a
Parthenon.

Sitting on the front bench on Mr Speaker's right, his long legs
stretched out, his bulky body clothed in a crumpled, poorly
tailored white linen suit, Cecil Rhodes, the Cape's Prime Minister,
sprawled on the reddish-brown leather seat and apparently took
no interest in, or even notice of, the debate. One might have
suspected that he was fast asleep had he not from time to time
suddenly jerked into another position or drawn his right hand,
inch by inch, from the depth of his trouser-pocket and started to
stroke his chin slowly with Ms forefinger. Strangers who saw him
for the first time were disappointed that this should be the great
Cecil Rhodes, master of the Cape's politics, of the world's

ON THE PERSONAL

diamonds, and of one of the world's greatest fortunes, the man
who held the destiny of Africa in his grasp.

But those who knew Rhodes knew also that the dull, bored
expression on his face was only a mask. It disappeared imme-
diately, for example, when he was attacked for the delay In
opening the railway which the Chartered Company had under-
taken to build for the Cape Government a year before. A gleam
appeared in his eyes. Though he did not change his recumbent
position, his body was no longer relaxed. Every muscle seemed
tensed for the spring. His right forefinger now stroked his chin
furiously. He did away lightly with the attack, in a conversational
tone such as he would have used when taking someone *on the
personal*. Yes, he said, his Company had defaulted the contract,
but it was his birthday today, his fortieth birthday, and had he
not done well for his country? What was a year? . , . And thus
Rhodes, the defaulter, defended by Rhodes the Prime Minister
simultaneously representing the defaulted party, the Cape Colony,
got away with it, and no one would have dreamt of asking the
Government to apply the high penalty stipulated by the contract
in the event of default.

Though Rhodes was celebrating his fortieth birthday he gave
the impression of being at least ten years older. His body had
widened enormously at the waist, giving something elephantine
to his appearance. Proudly he showed his friends the thick blue
artery protruding on his wrist: 'Here you can see my heart beat.
Nobody else has such a pulsei'

His health had been deteriorating after a bad fall from his horse
the previous December. The shock had upset his mind and body
to such an extent that his heart ailment, together with a subsequent
anxiety-neurosis, came once more into evidence and was aggra-
vated by the enormous amount of work and worries connected
with his manifold official duties and private interests. He never
recovered from this -physical and mental breakdown. So as to
keep himself in a condition in which he would be capable of
attending to business, he doped himself liberally with champagne,'
heavy wines and strong beer. He began to worry so much about
his health that his friends, not aware of the true nature of his
illness, took him for a hypochondriac or even for a coward. He
was a bad patient and when he suffered physical pain 'tears trickled
down his cheeks'.

RHODES OF AFRICA

When the affected valves refused to perform their work as
they should, Rhodes felt as if his whole heart was contracting
in painful convulsive cramps. Fear of death would haunt him, the
fear that sudden death would strike him, alone and lonely, and
would take him away before his life's work was completed and
his dreams fulfilled.

He became increasingly impatient and gave vent to frequent
temperamental outbursts. His tense nerves were reflected in the
intensity of his thoughts, the rapidity of his decisions and the
suddenness of his actions. A strong belief in his own infallibility,
strengthened by the flattery of his sycophants, made him inacces-
sible to advice on important questions. His rudeness, which at
the beginning of his ascent had helped him overcome his feeling
of social inferiority and which he later used, in the form of a large
selection of the choicest expletives, as a safety-valve, could no
longer be defined or excused in psychological terms. His choleric
temperament had developed into calculated impudence. He often
delighted in embarrassing people by his cutting remarks. One
who knew him well spoke of his character as 'subject to the
radical vice of phenomenal vindictiveness'.

Often when he knew he had gone too far with a friend he felt
real remorse and tried to patch it up by being demonstratively
amiable. At other times, while bristling with anger and swearing
at his friends in the most abominable language, Rhodes would
try hard to bridle his passion. He would throw himself into a
chair, stare at his opponent and mutter to himself breathlessly:
*Now, let's talk this over quietly. Don't lose your temper. Keep
calm keep perfectly calm and cool/

Rhodes, that 'bundle of inconsistencies* who could if he wished
overflow with amiability, cultivated his rudeness as a personal
characteristic to which he believed he was entitled as part of his
unique personality. Once, at an official dinner in London, he sat
next to a Cabinet Minister whom he bore an old grudge. When
he was displeased with the Minister's answer in a harmless argu-
ment, Rhodes abruptly turned his back on him and ignored him
the whole evening.

It was very rude of me, I know/ he said, 'very rude. People
who live in London can't do these things I can. I can do it on
the basis of a barbarian!'

In Parliament, however, and also in his other political activities,

[216]

ON THE PERSONAL

Rhodes aimed at offending no one and pleasing everyone in the
country. Neither by temperament nor by inclination was Rhodes
a politician* Constitutional rights, parliamentary procedure,
political traditions had no meaning for him.

He had to learn the art of parliamentary horse-dealing and
very soon did he master it so that he could say with genuine
vexation of one of his opponents, a true Liberal: *He has a
conscience but this is party politics!*

In order to please Hofmeyr and his Bond, Rhodes, often to the
pained disappointment of his Liberal friends and admirers, passed
kws dealing with Natives that stamped him in the eyes of the
papers in England as *an English-speaking Boer, thirsting for
slavery'. This was the case particularly when he supported a Bill
kter known as the "Strop Bill*, by which an employer was given
the right to apply corporal punishment to his Native labourers
of both sexes for even the slightest offence. Also the otherwise
sound law which gave the Natives in their Reservations individual
land-titles with the right of passing them on from father to eldest
son, and which gave them local government and encouraged
education, lost its Liberal flavour by being coupled with a tax
levy often shillings on non-workers, as a 'gentle stimulus to come
forth and find the dignity of labour*; and as such 'labour* the
work on their own land did not count.

The real idea behind this tax was revealed when Rhodes dis-
closed the difficulties of finding sufficient cheap labour for the
mines. He complained that Natives in South Africa were overpaid
at 3 or 4 a month and food, while in the North the pay was
4s. a month without food, and even in England, he emphasized,
C I find labour at izs. a week, that is 2 los. a month, producing
export/

Such methods of forcing the Natives into the mines provoked
the eminent member of the Liberal Party in England, Sir William
Harcourt, to ridicule Rhodes in the House with sarcastic acidity:

'Mr Rhodes is a very reasonable man. He only wants two things.
Give him Protection and give him Slavery and he will be perfectly
satisfied/

His precarious position as Prime Minister soon became burden-
some to Rhodes, who had never learnt the art of discretion. No
one really trusted him with the exception of Hofmeyr. And
lately there was another Afrikaner, a brilliant young lawyer,

RHODES OF AFRICA

W. P- Schreiner, thirty-six years old, who had joined Rhodes*
Cabinet as Attorney-General* Always an admirer of Rhodes*, he
became the second man to believe in Rhodes* political honesty
without reservation.

The only group of people really satisfied were the Cape farmers,
most of them good Bondsmen. Rhodes had repeatedly emphasized
in his speeches in rural districts that he came of good old farming
stock and that the love of the soil ran in his veins* Immediately
after the occupation of Mashonaland* he had given orders to
reserve for him a great tract of land in the most fertile district
where he wanted to start a model farm* Soon after taking office
Rhodes had created a Ministry of Agriculture s having recognized
that the future of the Cape would depend a great deal on modern-
izing her backward farming industry. By importing the American
ladybird, Rhodes saved the Cape's orange groves from destruction
by insect pests; he protected the South African wool industry by
introducing compulsory isolation of sheep affected by scab; from
Turkey he brought some pure-bred Angora goats to be crossed
with die poor Cape stock; and he procured Arab stallions to
improve the indifferent local breed. By applying French viticul-
tural methods to the Cape vines, and by having them grafted on
to American varieties, he made them immune to the scourge of
the phylloxera which had once brought ruin to the Cape's vine-
yards already* He tried to have the prohibitive English wine-
tariff lowered by a preference to colonial wines and thus to revive
the Cape's old wine trade with the mother country.

To the people of South Africa in general Rhodes remained a
political enigma. They could not understand why their Prime
Minister was still called *a Colonial Imperialist* by the, Afrikaners,
and an 'English Boer Republican' by the English in the Cape; and
a 'British Jingo* by the Transvaalers, while the English Press
either still referred to him as c the eliminator of the Imperial
Factor' or praised him as the 'Colossus of Africa' and the 'Empire
builder*, if they were not attacking him as a 'humbug whose
politics are a stalking-horse for his finance or his finance for his
politics*.

In his predicament Rhodes lamented in a speech:

It has been borne upon my mind of late that the best thing for
a Prime Minister to do is to make as few public speeches as possible

ON THE PERSONAL

and especially is this the case in South Africa, for in South Africa
we have to deal with the feelings of the English people who have
lent us all the money we have borrowed; we have to deal with the
sentiment of the neighbouring Republics; we have to deal with the
development of the Northern territory. ... I defy anyone to make
a speech as Prime Minister of this Colony without hurting the
feelings of someone . . \Tbe Times\ thinks that I am too Afrikaner
. , . The Free State Express slates me in the most fearful language
because I am too much an Englishman. * . . But I do feel that I am
steering the right course between Jingoism on the one side and
sensitive feeling on the other. . . .

Yet Rhodes was not such a political tenderfoot as Ms friends
as well as his foes imagined him, or perhaps rather wished him,
to be. Intuition had led him to discover the basis of political
success* which consists of the exploitation of the herd-instinct of
the masses by means of appealing to 'sentiment'. Without realiz-
ing, probably., that these words revealed the secret of his success
and later of his downfall he once told a friend:

Sentiments rule half the world and as an explanation of this truth
we can take the saying: 'We went far to the North, ... we did it by
the feeling of the people.* For after all, even if you have the wealth,
it is impossible to carry out a conception unless you have the feeling
of the people with you. ... If you have an idea and it is a good idea,
if you will only stick to it, you will come out all right.

'Sentiment* in the form of his old schoolboy-romanticism still
kept the forty-year-old Rhodes as captivated as when it had first
fired his imagination in his Oxford and early Kimberley days. In
spite of his questionable stock-exchange manipulations, in spite
of his many tricks when 'painting red, British red', the North, in
spite of his various sharp practices and in spite of his methodical
bribery, there still burnt in him, in that 'bundle of inconsistencies',
the blazing fire of enthusiasm for his juvenile romantic idea of
a secret society in preparation for the Pax T$ritannica. On his last
visit to London he spent much time between his important busi-
ness negotiations organizing the 'Society of the Elect*. The fact
that he was able to infect with such fantastic madness a man like
W. T. Stead can still be understood since the prominent publicist
had found compensation for the dullness of journalistic routine
work in the realms of mysticism, spiritualism and the collecting

RHODES OF AFRICA

of all sorts of lost souls. It is far less comprehensible that a cold-
blooded business-man of the woridliness of Lord Rothschild
should, instead of rebuffing it with laughter, accept it by agreeing
to act as executor of Rhodes' will as the representative of Ms
ideas. Rhodes accordingly made a new, his fourth, will, by which
he left his whole fortune to Lord Rothschild to be 'utilised in
accordance with Stead's views for the Society of the Elect'. It
was to be carried out by a 'Junta of Three' consisting of Stead
as 'General', Lord Rothschild and Lord Milner, with Arthur
Balfour and the Salvation Army General Booth as alternatives.

His present mood, at the time of his fortieth birthday, was
hardly one of romanticism. He was waiting for the cue to enter
upon the next act of his conquest of southern Africa. He had to
exercise strict self-control in order not to show his hand and
allow his opponents to call his bluff. Only a great bluff could save
Ms plans. Watching Rhodes, it was easy to notice Ms poorly
concealed anxiety. His nervousness spread throughout the
country. People were expecting something to happen though
they did not know what or where. His aim of attaining supreme
power over the whole of South Africa in order to make the Cape
the dominant factor of a future South African federation, naturally
under Ms control, was no longer a secret. There were still two
stumbling-blocks wMch would have to be removed before he
could accomplish Ms final aim: the two men, Lobengula and
TCroiger' Rhodes never learnt to pronounce President Kruger's
name correctly would have to be eliminated from the scene
before South Africa could come under Rhodes' complete control.
The two men had shown themselves immune to all Ms methods
of bribery, flattery and bluff. Only by force of arms could they be
removed. "South Africa's atmosphere was charged with the fear
of war.

As the curve of war-fever climbed Mgher, so Rhodes appeared
to become calmer. It was true that Mashonaknd had been a great
disappointment to Mm. But he could not very well blurt out that
he considered that country only a, stepping-stone, a small part of
his scheme wMch took in the whole of the African continent.

He had to undergo the strenuous journey to Mashonaland via
Beira to see for Mmself how the Chartered Company could be
saved from threatened bankruptcy. Part of the way he had to
travel in a dilapidated coastal steamer, where he was bunched

[**>]

ON THE PERSONAL

together with his companions in a small stuffy cabin. Rhodes was
lying in his bunk peacefully when the others started an uproar,
having found beetles, cockroaches and all kinds of smaller insects
crawling around them. How could Mr Rhodes remain so un-
concerned?

'Well/ he answered, C I cannot say I like them, but as I have
had many a worse time than this in my life, I don't worry myself
much about such minor discomforts. . . . Oh, my good friends,
take the world as it is; how silly to be afraid of such harmless little
things! Why, I treat them like flies. . . . One has to keep a sense
of proportion/

*To keep a sense of proportion' became Rhodes* motto during
his stay in Mashonaland and was freely recommended by him to
the many dissatisfied and almost riotous settlers who showered
their bitter complaints upon him. Exceptionally long and heavy
rains had caused a complete breakdown in the transport system,
as the wagons which had to bring provisions over a stretch of
1,700 miles could not pass through the floods and mud. In
consequence prices had soared enormously.

All along his way settlers told him of their dissatisfaction with
their farms. Once Rhodes shrieked at them:

'Well, aren't you satisfied with me? Haven't I done enough for
you? Do you blame me for opening this big new country?'
Without giving them another glance, he swung himself into the
saddle and galloped off.

Rhodes found *a discontented population of about 1,500
people'. Those who had taken up the free farms of 3,000 acres
allotted to each pioneer quickly sold them to land specuktors for
a song, often for not more than 100. In all of them there lived
only the one thought gold. True enough, there were auriferous
rocks, but how could they ever hope to tackle this quartz reef
with only pestle and mortar?

Those who did not go home stood by helplessly while their
former farms were taken up by speculators and leased at 6d. or
8^. an acre, and all the land where they had discovered auriferous
rocks parsed into the hands of stock companies whose shares
were torn out of the speculators' hands at high premiums on the
London stock market.

As it was, gold was found in very small quantities. The
directors of the Chartered Company in London bombarded

[221]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes with frantic cables asking him to let them know whether
the gold-reef had yet been found. Neither Rhodes' optimism nor
even the various Biblical references to the Queen of Sheba's
gold-treasures often quoted by Rhodes offered a consolation to
Ms London friends.

The London Board of the Chartered Company, wishing for an
unbiased report on the real gold-prospects in Mashonaland,
together with Rothschild, sent out two of the best-known
geologists. The experts deckred that they could find no signs of
the presence of a real continuous gold-reef, and that the existing
gold in Mashonaland occurred only to a relatively limited extent
and principally in the form of a few rich pockets in the best mines,
which would soon be exhausted. Only poor gold findings, they
warned, could be expected, which did not warrant the investment
of capital and still less the formation of stock companies.

To many it came as a bitter awakening from 'the dream of a
lunatic'. Only Rhodes and, infected by his indefatigable optimism,
Beit and Jameson, did not abandon faith in the gold and the
future of Mashonaland. Before he had finished reading the report
Rhodes crushed the copy in bis hand, saying: 'Rubbish! They
also told me I couldn't grow cotton in Natall And who was right
in the end, I ask you, about the blue ground in Kimberley? Me
or the experts? Rubbish!'

Before Rhodes went to Mashonaland in 1891 he knew that the
Chartered Company was bankrupt. The banks no longer accepted
its cheques unless they were guaranteed by De Beers or by
Rhodes personally. Lately the shareholders of De Beers had been
remonstrating against Rhodes' high-handed manipulations with
their company's funds for the benefit of the Chartered Company.
The shareholders took exception to the fact that he and the other
directors had formed a syndicate monopolizing the sale of the
Company's diamonds. When they complained, too, that the
Company spent money 'acquiring farms and breeding horses
Rhodes replied:

*. . . We had a considerable quantity of diamonds on hand, and
for amusement I put an advance of one shilling per carat on the
price of diamonds ... so that I may say the horses on our farms
were really bought for the Company by the diamond buyers of
Kimberley.'

They also objected to the Company's practice of making a

[Z2Z]

ON THE PERSONAL

profit on their monopolized canteens and shops which supplied
the Natives in the De Beers* compounds. A resolution was passed
that this money, gained by the Company in the rather unsavoury
way of overcharging their poor Natives for their miserable needs,
should be 'devoted to useful public purposes as [Rhodes] in his
discretion may determine'. Instead of using it for the benefit of
these Natives, the fund, amounting to more than 25,000, was
spent on such 'useful public purposes* as a deficit on an exhibition
in Kimberley (2,203), a local race-club (1,200), a luxurious
sanatorium for De Beers* white employees (17,000), two volun-
teer regiments (2,000) and a few hundred pounds on schools for
white children.

In his Goldfields Company Rhodes* wings had also been
clipped after Lord Rothschild had vehemently put a stop to the
practice of his 'puzzling ally' of using the Company's funds for
his northern dreams.

The full coffers of his two wealthy companies had thus passed
out of Rhodes' grasp. No fresh money was coming in. The greater
part of the capital of the Company in Mashonaland had been spent
on equipping and feeding a police force of 600-800 men. Under
the new administrator, Dr Jameson's rule, these expenses were
reduced from 250,000 to 30,000 a year, by means of substitut-
ing a volunteer corps of settlers for the police force. Dr Jameson,
like Rhodes, believed in Mashonaland, but knew that 'without a
railway the Chartered Company might as well shut up shop'.
Such a railway would have to connect Mashonaland with the port
of Beira, only 4oo-odd miles from Salisbury. But how could they
build a railway when money was not available? As the situation
grew more precarious, so Rhodes grew up to it. If the Chartered
Company needed money, one would have to get the money, he
said, and all the amounts due to him from De Beers and Goldfields
went straight into Chartered's account. He also borrowed on the
security of his considerable shareholdings in his companies.

Rhodes now proceeded to round up his possessions. The gold
of Gazaland was his next aim. The fact that this country belonged
to the Portuguese did not deter him nor did he feel that the
Anglo-Portuguese Agreement of the previous year for a modus
vivendi on the status quo put Mm under the slightest obligation.
Rhodes would not allow himself to be dictated to by an agree-
ment which had been concluded behind his back. He would leave

RHODES OF AFRICA

the matter in the hands of Dr Jameson. It was quite ridiculous to
allow a degenerate people like the Portuguese to possess any
colonies at all.

Dr Jameson acquired a concession to mineral rights in the
usual form from the Paramount Chief of Gazaland against a paltry
amount and the promise of guns. The only difficulty in having
the Gaza concession ratified lay in finding a way to bring the guns
to the Chief without being stopped by the watchful Portuguese.
A gun-moling expedition by steamer up the Limpopo River was
arranged. The Portuguese stopped the expedition and fined the
captain 2,000, but a Portuguese officer, his palms well greased,
contented himself with a promissory note and even released the
cargo of guns as being "outdated and useless'. With the guns
delivered, Dr Jameson received the confirmation of the conces-
sion. On his way back to Beira he was arrested and the steamer
seised, but he was able to dispatch the precious document secretly
by one of his companions. Dr Jameson was set free on his arrival
at Beira., and thus ended his second successful raid on foreign
territory.

A title without taking possession was not sufficient for Rhodes.
He had to occupy Gazaland, and Gazaland was not all on which
he had cast his eyes. Mashonaland had to have an outlet to the sea,
as otherwise it would suffocate as a locked~in impotent inland
island like the Transvaal. Beira was destined as the natural port
of Mashonaland and the way to Beira lay through Manica and
Gazaland, along, and during the floods on, the Pungwe River.

For many years, as often as he leant over his crumpled map of
Africa, Rhodes' finger had come to rest on Beira, the coveted
port on the Portuguese east coast.

In 1891 the Portuguese finances had sunk once more to a
catastrophic level. Rhodes saw his chance to bargain for Beira.
Together with the Rothschilds he offered to buy the port. The
Portuguese Cabinet looked upon his offer favourably, but the
promising negotiations had to cease when Downing Street
intervened.

Later Rhodes again took up parleys and was very near success
in obtaining Beira at the bargain price of 1,300,000, when J. B.
Robinson, the 'Buccaneer*, appeared on the scene and outbid
Rhodes by a substantial amount. A new Cabinet came to power
in Portugal and withdrew the offer.

["4]

ON THE PERSONAL

If he could not pocket Beita by fair means, other ways would be
sure to present themselves. The new Portuguese Government
played into his hands by closing the Pungwe River and the port
of Beira to men and goods connected with Rhodes' companies
and by declaring martial law in all the districts of Manica. At the
same time a volunteer corps arrived from Lisbon determined to
restore the honour of their country by clearing Manica of Rhodes*
police force.

If those dwarfs of Lisbon politicians wanted to fight him,
Cecil Rhodes would teach them a lesson. An excuse for war could
easily be found in this electrified atmosphere, and it would be war
not against his Mashonaland Police but against the British Empire.

On his old map of Africa, Rhodes pointed out to his friends the
immense vastnesses of space 'given over to savage life, with its
waste of nature and contempt of human life*. Silently, he paced
up and down the room until he came to a halt again in front of
the map, and whispered excitedly:

'It is inevitable fate that all this should be changed; and I should
like to be the agent of fate."

Unafraid of the probable consequences, Rhodes, as the un-
authorized 'agent of fate*, hatched the dangerous plan of creating
an 'incident' which would lead the British fleet to occupy Beira.
Unfortunately Dr Jameson, already considered a specialist in
such tasks, was not available. Rhodes' choice fell on Sir John
Willoughby, one of the many titled hangers-on of the Chartered
Company in Salisbury. This young ex-officer had all the qualities
that were needed to have him turned overnight into a national
hero by the English Press should something happen to him during
the 'incident'. Willoughby sported the Eton tie, had gained his
blue at Cambridge, had brought home a large collection of war
decorations from the Egyptian Expedition and had once won the
Derby. Possessing, moreover, the right amount of stupidity
mixed with irritating arrogance which he dispensed freely among
all outside his own coterie but showered especially upon everyone
and everything 'foreign*, he would not 'stand any nonsense' from
any swarthy Portuguese.

Friends pointed out to Rhodes that the life of this blue-blooded
flower of English nobility might be endangered that he might
easily be killed by a Portuguese bullet. Rhodes immediately
replied:

[225]

RHODES OF AFRICA

*Not a bit not a bit! They will only hit him in the leg hit
him in the leg in the leg. 5 And, while vigorously rubbing his
thighs, his screeching laughter echoed through the sudden deathly
silence of the room.

They did not even hit Willoughby in the leg when he entered
Beira harbour. All that the Portuguese did when he tried to enter
the Pungwe River against their orders was to fire a blank shot
over the bow of his 'flagship'. After protesting vehemently against
this insult to the British flag, Sir John considered his mission
fulfilled and quitted the scene, leaving to Rhodes the political
exploitation of the Incident'

Misled by Rhodes* exaggerated reports, the English Press
immediately turned the incident into the ( Beira Outrage'. Even
Sir Henry Loch, who was not easily influenced by Rhodes,
succumbed to the artificially aroused mass-hysteria and shared
Rhodes* opinion that Portugal's affront constituted a casus belli.
Lord Salisbury was surprised when he received from Loch, whom
he considered a calm and reliable man, a cable strongly urging
him c to take action with the fleet*.

Through direct negotiations Lord Salisbury soon came to
terms with the Portuguese Government, which immediately
lifted the closure of Beira and the Pungwe River. To lay stress
on the importance of the reopening of the port of Beira and of
the free passage from there to Mashonaland, Salisbury dispatched
a British cruiser and two gun-boats to Beira. The Portuguese
Government had yielded on the question of Beira only on condi-
tion that Rhodes* police-troops were withdrawn from the territory
of Manica which they had occupied without justification. The
officer in command of the Chartered Company Police ordered his
men to retreat, but only to occupy a strategically better position
on the Manica hills.

Rhodes, fearing that a treaty would once more be signed
without his being consulted and that again valuable concessions
would be made by the British Government, cabled to Beit in
London to safeguard the interests of the Chartered Company by
presenting their claims to Lord Salisbury. He concluded his
instructions:

... I well know the predatory instincts of my countrymen. When
they can't rob the foreigner, they rob one another; but I am damned
if they're going to rob me!

[2*6]

ON THE PERSONAL

Rhodes' Interests were Indeed well looked after when the
Anglo-Portuguese Treaty was signed in June 1891: the High-
lands, as well as the entire auriferous plateau of Manica and a
narrow strip of Gazaland, were accorded to Rhodes. Concerning
the question of Gazaland, however, neither Whitehall nor Lisbon
was prepared to yield to Rhodes' demand of recognizing his
concession for the whole territory. But Rhodes received full
rights to use the port of Beira and the Pungwe River and was
given a concession to build a railway from Beira to Mashonaland.

While Rhodes was busy brow-beating the Portuguese in the
east, difficulties were arising on the southern border of Mashona-
land, where an organized trek of Afrikaner burghers was threaten-
ing an invasion. They intended to found the 'Republic of the
North' in the Banya district of Mashonaland to which they
pretended to have acquired the rights from the local chiefs. The
promoters of the scheme had previously offered this concession
to Rhodes at an enormous figure, but he had pointed out to them
that the territory fell under Lobengula*s paramount power and
thus under the Rudd concession.

The trek was favoured by General Joubert, the Commandant-
General of the Transvaal and President Kruger's opponent in the
approaching presidential elections of 1892. President Krager,
who opposed it because he knew it would affect Ms negotiations
with London for Swaziland, issued a proclamation forbidding the
trek, but Rhodes was still convinced that Kruger favoured and
was secretly aiding it. The Colonial Office, too, feared a repetition
of the Bechuanaland troubles. Consequently the British Govern-
ment deckred that Matabdeland and Mashonaland feU under the
British sphere of influence and ordered the Bechuanaland Police
to take up positions at the principal drifts on the Limpopo River.
These Imperial troops, together with the Chartered Police, would,
the* High Commissioner warned the trekkers, prevent by force of
arms any unauthorized crossing of the Limpopo.

These official precautions seemed to Rhodes insufficient to
prevent Kruger from sponsoring the trek. He would send
Dr Jameson and Sir John Willoughby to Pretoria and let the
'Old Dopper* know the exact meaning of Loch's shilly-shally
proclamation.

During these last years Rhodes had learnt how to use to good
advantage that loathsome poEtical instrument blackmail by the

t"7]

RHODES OF AFRICA

threat of war. If, contrary to expectations, it should not have the
desired effect when applied to Kruger, one would have to create
an 'incident* similar to the 'Beira Outrage*, and would eventually
have to go to war. Rhodes no longer doubted that war against
the Transvaal would be the ultimate solution.

Bearing Rhodes' views in mind, the two raid specialists came
to Pretoria. Willoughby first went alone to see the President and
deliver Rhodes' message. Just as intended by his master, the
arrogant haughtiness of the ex-guardsman had the most irritating
effect on the President. Willoughby asked the President whether
he realked that if the Boers attempted to cross the Limpopo into
Mashonaland, he would have to reckon with the British Army.

Kruger, with his small inflamed eyes, looked at this young
man whom the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony had chosen
to send to threaten him, the aged President of a friendly neigh-
bour-state, with war war by the Queen of Great Britain, the
suzerain power of his cowtryl Kruger stood up. Looking the
young officer straight in the eye, he said very slowly: *I think we
have reckoned with the British Army before!" With these words
he left the room, his head held high. Willoughby remained in his
seat for quite a while with open mouth. In his stupidity he could
not explain this 'extraordinary behaviour'.

Yet Kruger felt that as a message from the Prime Minister of
the Cape this threat would have to be taken seriously. He sent for
the British Agent, Sir Jacobus de Wet, for an explanation, who
immediately communicated with the High Commissioner. To
everyone's relief there soon came a wire from Sir Henry Loch:
'Disown Willoughby and say Her Majesty's Government disown
him altogether/

The more intelligent Dr Jameson instantly realised that a
blunder had been .committed. He tried to repair it by visiting the
President and applying all his charm to the old man. He scored
a great success at least with another man, one of Rhodes' greatest
antagonists and one of Britain's bitterest and most irreconcilable
foes in South Africa: the Reverend S. J, Du Toit, who suddenly
discovered his love for Britain and joined Rhodes* forces by
declaring himself whole-heartedly against the trek. * Squared?*
'On the personal?*

The trekkers who were sitting on the Transvaal bank of the
Limpopo waiting for the signal from their leader to cross the

ON THE PERSONAL

river into Mashonaland were beginning to be bored. They had
full confidence in their leader, a man well known throughout
South Africa: whenever there was a rumour of gold or diamond
findings, Colonel Ignatius Ferreira would appear among the first
to dig; whenever there was a war against the Natives, Ferreira
would be the first to volunteer, no matter whether it was under
the flag of Britain, the Transvaal or Portugal, and fight in the
front line with such foolhardiness that his name alone was
sufficient to frighten many a Native chief.

Mashonaland must have been a dreamland for a man of his
speculative optimism and he had thus taken over the leadership
of the trek with enthusiasm. But to sit there for weeks doing
nothing was more than his mercurial temperament could endure.
Finally, to put an end to what was already becoming a comedy,
Ferreira and a few others made a pretence of attempting to cross
the river. They were promptly arrested by the Chartered Police.
Dr Jameson, who had been waiting impatiently for this moment,
tried to persuade the rest of the Boers to enter Mashonaland as
registered settlers under the Company's rule. Only a very few
accepted the offer.

Rhodes* next task, and the most difficult, so everyone in
Rhodes* circle believed, still awaited him when he would have
to face the shareholders of the Chartered Company at its second
annual meeting scheduled in London for November 1892.

The capital of the Company had been spent. So far gold to no
appreciable extent had been found. The shares of the Company,
which soon after having been issued had climbed to 3 15^. and
had been unloaded at that price on an unsuspecting public, were
now unsaleable at a quotation of TOS. to izs. Rhodes knew that
it would be hard work not only to keep up the confidence of his
shareholders but to instil in them fresh enthusiasm to such an
extent that they would willingly grant him new and larger
funds.

The Spectator, referring to Rhodes* light-hearted optimism in
promising two years previously that 'Mashonaland consists not
of one but of fifty Rands', hauled him over the coals:

We are not inclined to take Mr Cecil Rhodes so entirely on trust
as a great many people in this country show a disposition to do. . . .
We should like to know much more exactly than any one seems to
do, whether Rhodes is fighting for England or for his own hand, . . .

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes had prepared his speech to the shareholders with pains-
taking care, employing all his well-worn and ever-successful
bravura arias: the story of meeting General Gordon and how he
would have *squared the MahdF, that he was proud to be called
an adventurer and, to wind up, bis old refrain of how he had
always %ied to combine the commercial with the imaginative,
and up to the present never failed*. He appealed to the patriotism
of his listeners when he asked them to oppose the 'scuttling out
of colonial possessions: . . . I do not mean this on the basis of
"Jingoism", or on the basis of the Empire on which the sun never
sets, but on the basis of pure practical business. 5 He aimed at the
proverbial sentimentality of the Englishwomen in his audience
who could always be brought to the melting-point if called upon
to fight the slave-trade:

There are 14,000 shareholders in the various companies I represent,
and if they like to send me, not a charitable contribution, but 10
each, there would be my line to Uganda. . . . There may be in various
towns in Engknd people who take an interest in Africa and in the
suppression of the skve trade. If this telegraph is made, there will
be an end to the skve trade and it will give us the keys to the
continent, . * .

All now depended on regaining the confidence of his share-
holders and re-establishing the trust of the stock exchange in his
enterprises. What better recommendation could he furnish than
the faith of such cautious bankers as Messrs Rothschild? Proudly
he announced:

Lord Rothschild, who I think, did not believe in the least degree
in the Charter, but thought he was chucking his money into the sea,
gave me 25,000.

The negative results of the two years' work in Mashonaland
Rhodes went over lightly: 'My experience of the past is that, just
as a Government, so as a Company we cannot expect to do more
than balance revenue and expenditure. . . / And he kept up their
hopes for the great mineral wealth still to be discovered.

How could one possibly deny anything to so charming a man,
so great a patriot and one so clever in financial matters? Rhodes
received fresh confidence in, and new capital for, his company in
full measure. And that was all he had wanted.

In his address Rhodes had made a deep bow to the new Liberal
Cabinet, which had taken over the government in the summer of

ON THE PERSONAL

1892. Rhodes recommended himself to the new masters in
Whitehall by declaring:

*I am a Liberal myself 1*

The extent of his Liberalism, so far, had been expressed merely
by a contribution of 5,000 to the funds of that party.

Rhodes needed the goodwill of the ruling Liberals for Ms
pending ventures. He had to have Uganda and he thanked heaven
that only Gladstone and a few other Liberals now held to their
anti-colonial policy,

In Lord Rothschild's son-in-law, Lord Rosebery, now Secretary
of Foreign Affairs in Gladstone's Cabinet, Rhodes found an
interested and enthusiastic backer of his scheme to save Uganda,
which Rhodes described as 'the key to Central Africa*. The
company which had a Charter for Uganda was asking for an
annual subsidy of 40,000, whereas Rhodes offered to run it at
25,000 and to build a telegraphic line from Salisbury to Uganda
without cost to the Government.

Sir William Harcourt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in
Gladstone's Cabinet, was, as a strong 'Little Englander*, categori-
cally opposed to colonial obligations. He would first have to be
won over.

Harcourt was at first horrified by the Uganda scheme and even
more shocked when Rhodes proposed that as a part of this plan
the Cape should take over the administration of Bechuanaland
and run it at 40,000, whereas now it was costing the British
Government 100,000. Rhodes also mentioned, to Harcourt's
consternation, that 'in a few years the Transvaal will be so flooded
with English at the mines that there will be a majority there for
annexation to the Cape Colony*. Yet, in spite of his distrust of
Rhodes, Harcourt could not help being 'delighted with him*,
liking his 'hard sense and knowledge of affairs* and even agreeing
with him that * Jingoism is tolerable when it is done <c on the cheap* * *.

But on consideration Harcourt quickly changed his mind. He
wrote a note to his Cabinet colleague Lord Ripon, the new
Colonial Secretary, in which he opposed the amalgamation of
Bechuanaland with the Cape:

Of course, Henry Loch does not like to part with his own little
despotism, and desires to keep his own niggers for himself, but this
ought only to influence us. ... In dealing with these Cape eels it is
necessary to have sand on one's hands.

[2 3I ]

RHODES OF AFRICA

However, when Rosebery threatened to resign if Uganda were
* scuttled' , Rhodes was given the sanction of the Cabinet to add it
to his private empire which now stretched from the Limpopo
across the Equator to the borders of the Sudan.

The new acquisition brought Rhodes* dreams still nearer to
their complete realization. He would have rejoiced more about
this latest victory had there not remained on the map of Africa
the blot of the Transvaal. It was so near and yet so far an,d as
time went on it seemed to recede still farther from his grasp,

Rhodes had nursed great hopes that the Presidential elections
of 1892 would lead to civil war between Paul Kruger's followers
and those of General Piet Joubert. *Oom Paul' still held the
confidence of the older generation, the conservative backvelders,
but in the towns there had arisen a generation who were now
clamouring for a change. It was a very close contest. The votes
had to be counted three times, and each time they led to a different
jcesult until finally Kruger was declared elected with 7,854 votes
against Joubert's 7,009.

Rhodes knew that the time to deal with Kruger had not yet
arrived, and he felt his impotence painfully. One day, however,
he would settle accounts with that old man 'Kroiger'l

Rhodes' mind was already occupied with plans for his next
step: Lobengula would have to be eliminated so that the Chartered
Company could take possession of Matabeleland and, of course,
of the fat king's fabulous treasure chest of diamonds, his gold and
ivory and his enormous stock of cattle. Rumours that his wealth,
stored in old biscuit tins, now amounted to well ovet 10 million,
had lately received confirmation from several sources. With
Dr Jim, the experienced raider, sitting in Salisbury as adminis-
trator, it would not be difficult to arrange the necessary 'incident'
to start the ball rolling. Moffat, now Her Majesty's Resident at
Bulawayo, and still a willing instrument of Rhodes' who
officially paid his salary was given the onerous duty of inform-
ing Lobengula of the transfer of the Lippert concession to the
Chartered Company. The King understood the meaning of this
message only too well, but he was determined to oppose the sale
of this concession which had been a personal grant and could not,
according to Native law, be passed on.

He also maintained that in spite of the Rudd concession he was
still master over Mashonaland. All that he had ceded was the

ON THE PERSONAL

tight to dig" for gold. He therefore saw no hindrance to sending
his irnpi into Mashonaland to *bathe their spears in blood*, to
collect taxes or to go on punitive expeditions. There was, in fact,
no boundary to show where Matabeleland ended and Mashona-
land began.

An opportunity arose in June 1893 when Lobengula wanted
to punish a petty Mashonaland chief living on the border, whose
men had cut some 500 yards of telegraph wire and who had paid
the fine imposed on him by the Company in cattle which belonged
to Lobengula. In a letter addressed to the Company's officer-in-
charge at Victoria, dated 29 June, Lobengula informed him of
the coming punitive expedition against these cattle-thieves and
pointed out that 'the impi in its progress will probably come across
some white men, who are asked to understand that it has nothing
to do with them'. Lobengula acted fully within his rights and
even did more than was his duty by this warning.

To Dr Jameson this seemed a splendid opportunity for
engineering the required 'incident'. He wired for Rhodes' consent.
Rhodes, reading the telegram while sitting at his desk in Parlia-
ment, sent a messenger for a Bible. He smiled as he thumbed
through the pages of the New Testament; and on a telegram form
addressed to Dr Jameson, scribbled:

Read Luke XIV, 31.1

From Dr Jameson came the prompt reply: 'All right: have read
Luke XIV, 31.' And he immediately went to work. He found the
man for the job in one Captain Lendy, who by rights should no
longer have been in the employ of the Chartered Company at all.
Shortly before, he had been seriously reprimanded by the Colonial
Office and was supposed to have been cashiered, for the barbarous
torture under which he had put to death a Mashona headman for
alleged theft.

When chasing the Mashona cattle-thieves, Lobengula' s impi,
which consisted of 300 men, reached the outskirts of Victoria,
and, while looking for Mashona fugitives, they might possibly
have entered the property of some settlers. The settlers thereupon,
as Dr Jameson reported, had 'the jumps', sending away their

1 *Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first,
and consultcth whether he he able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh
against him with twenty thousand?*

HHOBES OF AFRICA

wives and children and barricading their houses. Not a single
white person, however, was as much as touched by a Matabele.

Captain Lendy was told that if the impi did not leave Mashona-
land within an hour, he should follow them with thirty-eight
troopers. If he found that they were not moving off and if they
resisted and attacked him, he should open fire. According to the
testimony of Captain Newton, who as an old friend of Rhodes 1
must be considered, if not biased towards Rhodes, at least a
neutral witness, there was "nothing to show that any organised
or individual resistance was offered'. This fact did not prevent
a man of Captain Lendy's type from shooting about thirty
Matabele

In his report to the High Commissioner, Dr Jameson and
Selous twisted the truth in maintaining that the Matabele impi
had attacked Lendy' s troops after having killed more than 400
Mashona, and emphasized that the lives of the white women and
children had been jeopardized at Victoria. Not more than half
a. dozen Mashonas had in fact been the victims of the Matabele
raid.

The High Commissioner censured Lendy, but only said 'that
the punishment inflicted , . . appears disproportionate to the
original offence' upon which the Colonial Secretary, Lord Ripon,
observed that "the full report by Captain Lendy . . . would have
justified much stronger terms of remonstrance* and that he could
not avoid the conclusion that 'Captain Lendy acted with reckless-
ness and undue harshness',

Dr Jameson did not care. He had succeeded in engineering an
'incident'. In order to remove any obstacles which Sir Henry Loch
or the Colonial Office might put in his or Rhodes' way, voxpopuli
would have to be raised to such a pitch that it would sound as
though the settlers of Mashonaland were fearing for their very
lives.

Nothing was easier than filling the people with the necessary
war-spirit, and promptly at a mass-meeting in Salisbury a
.resolution demanding immediate strong action was passed and
telegraphed to Government House in Cape Town.

In spite of this provocation Lobengula did not lose his head
and exercised restraint in every respect. He defended his rights
against the Company which seemed to have come *not only to
dig the gold but to rob me of my people and country as well'.

ON THE PERSONAL

He appealed to the High Commissioner through Moffat, saying
that he was 'not aware that a boundary exists between Dr Jameson
and myself; who gave him the boundary lines? Let him come
forward and show me the man that pointed out to Mm these
boundaries/ The High Commissioner replied to Lobengula that
it was also his desire that 'peace should be maintained*. In spite
of these reassuring words Lobengula saw that the preparations
for war in Salisbury were being intensified. As a last hope he
wrote another pathetic letter to the Great White Queen, pleading
for justice, with this touching outburst from a wounded heart:
c Your Majesty, what I want to know from you is: Why do your
people kill me?*

The Queen replied through the High Commissioner: "You can
tell the King from me I have no intention of invading his country
or of dragging him into war/

When Rhodes' next monthly concession payment was tendered
to Lobengula, the King refused acceptance because, as he told the
messenger, it signified 'the price of his blood*. To show his
peaceful intentions, and to rid himself of his obligations towards
the Company, Lobenguk returned the 1,500 rifles and the ammu-
nition which he had received in part-payment of the Rudd
concession.

In spite of these distinct signs of Lobengula's sincerity and the
assurances of reliable traders and missionaries about his peaceful
intentions, and in spite of repeated warnings from the High Com-
missioner not to provoke the King, Dr Jameson continued to
prepare for the lethal stroke against 'that fat naked savage'.

Nothing could speak more against Rhodes* sincerity, nothing
could better demonstrate his hypocrisy, than the cynical methods
he employed in attracting volunteers for the intended campaign
in Matabeleland. On 14 August 1893 Dr Jameson enlisted, by
secret agreement, 672 men whom he promised by contract, in the
name of the Company, each 6,000 acres of land of a minimum
value of 9,000 to be chosen by them, and zo gold claims in
Matabeleland, Paragraph 7 of this shameless agreement referred
bluntly to what is considered in every even half-civilized country
as one of the greatest crimes in warfare:

The loot shall be divided half to the British South Africa Company
and the remainder to officers and men in equal shares,

[*35]

RHODES OF AFRICA

It must here be stated clearly that the British authorities in
Cape Town and in London knew nothing about this secret
agreement and it remained unknown to them until 1913.

The expectation of loot from Lobengula's treasure cave of
diamonds, gold and ivory and his herd of 500,000 head of cattle
drove the men to such a frenzy of war-lust that they could
scarcely be kept in check. Colonel H. Gooid-Adams, the Com-
mander of the Bechuanaland Police, reported to the High
Commissioner on 1 8 September: *Dr Jameson will not be able to
keep the Salisbury and Victoria people much longer inactive/

The High Commissioner, urged on by Whitehall, made every
effort to frustrate Rhodes' attempt at invading Matabeleland and
annihilating Lobengula. At the beginning of September he sent
a message to Lobengula: 'Let there be peace between you and the
white men! . . .' He encouraged the king to send his indunas to
Cape Town, promising a safe conduct for them and that he would
be 'glad to receive them if they come from you with words of
friendship and of peace 9 .

At the end of September, Dr Jameson reported to the High
Commissioner that a Matabele iff/pi had fired on a police patrol.
Though he had only Dr Jameson's word to rely on, Loch, who
seemed not as yet to have been aware of the doctor's unbridled
inventiveness, believed that a case of aggression by the Matabele
had actually occurred. Perhaps he had begun to doubt Lobengula's
sincerity, since his indunas who should have arrived weeks before
had not even been reported to have crossed the border.

Poor honest Loch! How could he have known by what low
means his highest assistants were working against him, against
the Government and against their country, but to the advantage
of their friend Cecil Rhodes? Three indunas had indeed arrived on
the border. It was known that the aim of their mission to the
High Commissioner was to prevent Rhodes' invasion of Matabele-
land. Rhodes' interests therefore made it imperative that the
indunas should proceed no farther. As soon as they crossed the
border they were arrested *by mistake' and two of them shot
*while attempting to escape', while the third was never seen or
heard of again.

On 3 October Loch, under pressure from Dr Jameson, gave
Mm 'discretionary powers to take the necessary measures to clear
the border of Matabele impis** On October 7 the troops of the

ON THE PERSONAL

Chartered Company, well supplied with Maxim machine-guns
and field artillery, left their camps in three columns consisting
altogether of 897 white men and 555 Natives, and with Dr
Jameson as Commander-in-Chief.

Two columns marched off in the direction of Bulawayo, while
the third column went to join Goold- Adams' Bechuanaland
Police to cover the left flank of the main body and thus create
a diversion of Lobenguia's forces.

When Dr Jameson and his expedition were already several
days on the march, there suddenly appeared in Salisbury Cecil
Rhodes escorted by twenty Cape Police. It was a very tired, a very
sick-looking and a very subdued Rhodes who greeted the settlers*
Dr Jameson had followed his orders well in improvising and
keeping down the costs. Rhodes had had to scrape together every
penny, to pledge everything he possessed and to borrow from all
sides in order to provide money for this war.

During all this time Rhodes had prudently kept in the back-
ground. As Prime Minister of the Cape he had to avoid falling
foul of Loch and the Colonial Office. He therefore left all the
negotiations in Dr Jameson's hands, though he directed him
secretly. If anything went wrong he could then always disown
the doctor. When the critical moment arrived at the end of
September, Rhodes went off to Mashonaland via Beira, but he
stopped near Umtali, a little border-station, where he camped for
many days without entering the town and avoiding contact with
its inhabitants. Rhodes, in other words, had gone into hiding.
One day a mounted Company policeman arrived at Rhodes' camp,
and from his and his horse's exhausted condition it could be
guessed how urgent was the letter which he handed to Rhodes.
Rhodes' mood immediately changed, though only for the moment,
from nervous anxiety to one of gaiety: Dr Jameson was reporting
that he and his two columns had now passed Fort Charter. For
this news Rhodes had been waiting all these long and dreary days in
his hide-out. Now Dr Jameson could no longer be reached by tele-
graph and stopped in his march. To his friend Hans Sauer, Rhodes
said, amid several outbursts of the usual piercing high laughter:

'I had to hide in the bush and to make it impossible to receive
orders by cable from Whitehall prohibiting us from invading
Matabeleland, but now that Dr Jim has disappeared into the blue
nobody can deter us any longer from this adventure.'

[37]

RHODES OF AFRICA

However, although Whitehall had not succeeded in stopping
Rhodes' march into Matabeleland, they did at least want to keep
a control over the consequences, and therefore informed Rhodes
that all future negotiations about peace terms with Lobengula
would have to be conducted by, and under the complete control
of, the High Commissioner.

Rhodes foamed with fury. Once again the 'Imperial Factor"
was stepping in to try and rob Mm of the fruits of Ms work. In
Ms rage, Rhodes appealed to Ms powerful colleagues on the Board
of the Company, to exercise their influence on the Colonial Office.
The Colonial Secretary was informed by them that 'the B.S.A.C.
have asked the British Government nothing, and surely they have
the right, in terms of the Charter, if victorious to settle the ques-
tion with Lobengula, subject only to the approval of Lord Ripon'.

To Ms Afrikaner friends in Cape Town, Rhodes, in a telegcam,
was even more outspoken about the 'elimination of the Imperial
Factor 3 :

I certainly intend to settle the question on South African lines.
I had the idea and found the money and our people have had the
courage to fight without help from home. Surely I should have a
voice in the final settlement. I feel I can reckon on the people of the
Cape Colony supporting me in this view.

Rhodes was successful in preventing, at least for the time being,
any interference from the 'Imperial Factor', and the field seemed
clear for Ms final settlement with Lobengula, The danger, how-
ever, that the 'Imperial Factor' might slip in at the kst moment
if Goold-Adams' Bechuanaknd Police with Khama's Native
troops were the first to enter Bulawayo, capture Lobengula and
seize his treasure would have to be avoided at all costs.

The massing of Imperial troops on Ms borders worried
Lobengula more than did the reports that three columns of
Rhodes' troops had started to move towards Matabeleland. But
he was not without hope. He believed firmly in the justness of
Ms cause and was convinced that one Matabele with Ms assegai
was the match of four Britishers in spite of their macMne-guns.

With the same belief in their unconquerable strength, Loben-
gula' s 5,000 men, singing their war-songs, marched along the
Shangani River, straight into the murderous fire of the Maxim
macMne-guns, to be mowed down mercilessly in their hundreds

ON THE PERSONAL

by Rhodes 5 troops. As soon as one column was decimated the
next moved in, and so It went on until only a few hundred men
were left of the many thousand. A week later an even larger
Matabele army was utterly wiped out at Imbembesi River.

Now they would come and seize him, Lobengula mused. But
even though his best regiments had been lost he would continue
to fight and go down fighting like a king, just as the great Zulu
kings, Dingaan and Chaka, had done* Never would the white
devils sit in his kraal, and when they came they would find
nothing but ashes. He ordered his body-guard Bosungwana and
ten selected young warriors of the royal regiment to load all his
treasures on the big wagon.

When the costly load had been stored, Lobengula ordered the
royal kraal to be burnt to the ground and with the help of a box
of powder nothing remained but some burnt pieces of wood, a
few broken bricks and mounds of ashes.

Smallpox was ravaging Matabeleland. German traders spread
the rumour that Dr Jameson must have had a hand in this
epidemic, or why had he had all his men and also his Natives
vaccinated before the campaign began?

Lobengula went north towards the Shangani River. Two days
after his flight, on 3 November, Bulawayo was occupied by
Dr Jameson's two columns. The Bechuanaland Police, under
Colonel Goold-Adams, obligingly left Jameson and his men alone
for several days to gather all the glory, and, what was more, all
the loot. There was great disappointment when it was found that
the entire royal kraal had been burnt down and nothing was left
of Lobengula's fabulous treasure.

Lobengula still wanted peace. When two captured troopers
were brought to him he saw his chance of sending a message to
Rhodes. He gave each a thousand golden sovereigns to bring to
'Ulodzi* and showed them the barrels full of gold which he told
them their master Rhodes could have . . . *and tell him they have
beaten my regiments, killed my people, burnt my kraals, captured
my cattle and that I want peace'.

The message was never delivered, the gold never handed over.
The King felt that his end was near. Not far from the banks of
the Zambezi he ordered a halt. He was too weak to continue,
shaking with fever and his face red with smallpox. He had found
a cave. The ten men who formed his escort were ordered to store

1*39]

RHODES OF AFRICA

all Ms possessions in the cave and to make the entrance inacces-
sible by rolling a tremendous rock in front of its small opening.
When the work was done he had these men killed one after the
other by his old and trusted body-guard, Bosungwana. A few
days later, on 24 January 1894, Lobengula died and the old friend
buried him sitting in his bath-chair. His friend made the grave
unrecognisable by placing a large boulder over it. And the secret
of the two places where Lobengula and his treasure were buried
went with Bosungwana to his own grave when he died a few
months later. Up to the present day many treasure hunters have
searched in vain for the buried treasure of King Lobengula.

Before the year 1893 was out, Rhodes had arrived in Bulawayo
and immediately went to work to establish the Company there
firmly before any interference could come from Whitehall or
Cape Town's Government House. Together with Dr Jameson
he proceeded to mark out townships, distribute land, organize
new companies, send out prospecting and surveying groups and
start to share out Lobengula* s country.

Rhodes, in his schoolboy-romanticism or was it rather a case
of simple vengeance? insisted that the capital of his new province
should be erected on the site of Lobengula's kraal Gu-Buluwayo,
and for the location of the future Government House he chose
the very spot of the King's goat-kraal and hut. His technical
advisers, however, rejecting such romantic fancies, erected the
town two miles north-west of the former royal kraal.

All the fears of the British Government in allowing a private
person like Rhodes to conduct a private war for a joint-stock
company against a country standing under the Queen's protec-
torate, had thus proved justified and Sir Henry Loch predicted
that Rhodes' next step would lead to war by the Chartered
Company against a foreign power instead of Natives. Rhodes,
however, bombastically assured everyone of the 'peaceful policy*
of his company.

The 'peaceful policy* of the Chartered Company was again
demonstrated a few weeks later when Rhodes wanted to incor-
porate Pondoland in the Cape Colony against the will of its Chief
and people. The Chief, Sigcau, was summoned to Rhodes and
told in plain words that since his people were incapable of gov-
erning their country it would be annexed. The Chief was taken
to a cornfield. Suddenly, at Rhodes* command, machine-guns

[240]

ON THE PERSONAL

began to spray their bullets Into the high maize stacks which
were mown down as if a ghost was running wildly over the field,
cutting them down with a sharp sickle. Looking at the frightened
Chief and pointing at the field and the machine-guns, Rhodes told
him: 'And that will happen to you and your tribe if you give us
further trouble!'

The ruthless methods employed by Rhodes in his conquests
did not remain without critical repercussions in England. In the
front row of the critics was Labouchere who, in Truth y continued
his campaign against 'these filibustering and massacring expedi-
tions ... of Mr Rhodes and his pernicious company, a wretched,
rotten, bankrupt set of marauders and murderers*.

Even Rhodes* friend, W. T. Stead, felt It his duty to censure
him, and in Parliament, on three different occasions, the massacres
in Matabeleland came under heavy attack.

An anonymous pamphlet, published in 1894 in Cambridge,
expressed the popular abhorrence of liberal-minded British people
as well as of all those whose conscience had been shocked by
Rhodes. It bore the title:

THE MATABELELAND SCANDAL
by

One who remembers the punishment which fell upon Cain for
killing his brother, and is jealous of the honour of Great Britain

It was a forceful J* accuse and stands as an echo of the actual
sentiments moving thousands of Englishmen whom the poison
of Jingoism and Rhodes' clever propaganda, as well as the
temptations of the stock market, had left untouched.

All these attacks were much resented by Rhodes who feared
increased difficulties with the Government for his future plans.
Moreover, they had unduly influenced the share market, bringing
down again the price of Chartered shares which had been im-
proving so nicely of late.

At a banquet in Rhodes* honour, on his arrival in Cape Town,
Dr Jameson feasted him as the great Empire-builder, announcing
that the directors of the Company had decicjed to memorize his
great deeds by naming the countries which he had opened up
Mashonaland and Matabeleland Rhodesia.

In his reply Rhodes again emphasized that the volunteers had

[MI]

RHODES OF AFRICA

beaten the Matabele single-handed without the help of anyone
and without asking the British Government for a single sixpence.

This historical untruth was too much for the representative of
the High Commissioner, the Government's Imperial Secretary,
Sir Graham Bower. He stood up and pointed out the great part
which the British Government had played, actively and passively,
in opening up the North, by contributing both men and money
to the campaign and to the subsequent policing of the territory.
He later had to pay dearly for the annoyance thus caused to
Rhodes, who never forgot it.

There were not many who took any interest in the welfare of
the thousands of destitute Matabele. Rhodes had declared as the
tenor of his policy, *I prefer land to niggers', a cynical confession
which contrasts grossly with the terms of the Charter granted by
Her Majesty the Queen:

. . * The Petitioners believe that the condition of the Natives
inhabiting the said territories will be materially improved and their
civilization advanced.

The Matabele had plenty of opportunity of learning what the
white man meant by improved material conditions and an advance
in civilization: syphilis, gin, forced labour, taxes, famine, prostitu-
tion, debauchery, physical deterioration, lust for money, and
fraud.

1*4*]

CHAPTER XIII

GROOTE SCHUUR

f-TpHERE never was any rest for Rhodes. He had never learnt
JL to relax. His brain worked endlessly, planning, scheming.
The quiet beauty of Nature which soothes even the most turbu-
lent of minds had a stimulating effect on him. He had loved the
countryside since his earliest youth. When he first saw from the
sfoep of Hofmeyr's house in Camp Street the panorama of the
Cape peninsula dominated by the severe majesty of Table Moun-
tain he had fallen in love with the landscape. The noble simplicity
of the old Dutch homesteads, the solidity, the dear shape and
the superb craftsmanship of their furniture had captivated him.
Here on the Cape peninsula, with Table Mountain always in view,
he would settle down and build himself a house!

Until 1893, twenty-three years after his arrival in South Africa,
Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the country and one of its
richest inhabitants, had had no abode there which he could call
his own. In 1891 he learnt by chance that an old Dutch house in
Cape Town's suburb Rondebosch was for sale. This thatched
building had served in the time of the Dutch East India Company
as a barn for storage and later it passed through many hands until
it became a large farm-house amid fields and woods and vineyards.
Rhodes bought it in 1893 and restored its old Dutch name,
Groote Schuur. Not wishing to be confined within the narrow-
ness of a fairly populous area, he also bought all the adjoining
land, including the slopes of the mountain, until he possessed
altogether 1,500 acres, at a total cost of 60,000. By chance he
met a young unknown architect, Herbert Baker, who aroused his
interest by his fiery enthusiasm for the harmonious beauty of the
old Dutch architecture. This was his man! He engaged him imme-
diately and gave him full powers to restore Groote Schuur to its
original state as shown in an old water-colour in Rhodes* posses-
sion. *I want the big and simple, barbaric if you like*, was his only
directive to the young architect. On a half-sheet of paper, un-
dated, he wrote an authorization for unlimited funds to be put at

RHODES OF AFRICA

Baker's disposal at his bank: c Baket to be architect and cleirk of
works/

As soon as work began, Rhodes gave it his full attention. In
spite of his usual impatience with details, he now gave his archi-
tect explicit orders concerning even minor points. Rhodes had
never before spent any money on himself except for the merest
necessities, and he wanted now to give himself, without regard
to costs, the very best that money could procure; something which
would become a monument to his personality destined to live long
after him and to bear testimony of him not as the 'Colossus', not
as the politician, the land-grabber, the lucky speculator, the
millionaire, the master of gold and diamonds, but of Rhodes the
man, the lover of sylvan beauty, the connoisseur of antique art,
the admirer of old Cape tradition and still more of Rhodes, the
Squire, the Grandseigneur, the Gentleman,

Everything in the house had td be large and spacious and,
above all, absolutely solid and of the very best. Rhodes saw to it
that for the material used on the house local products were given
preference wherever possible. He would not allow foreign marble
to be imported and was very proud of the fact that his bathroom,
which caused a sensation by its splendour and luxury, had its
roomy bath-tub hewn out of a single solid block of Paarl granite,
while the huge massage-slab was of Cape marble and the whole
room and floor were tiled with a local greenish marble.

The large back-j*/^, supported by massive pillars and gaily
floored with black-and-white checked marble, was designed to
become the centre of life in Groote Schuur where up to fifty
people could be entertained. Rhodes had seen at once that it
would offer the best panorama with the grandiose background of
a symphony in grey of the defiant buttresses and gorges and
precipices of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak piercing the
blueness of the sky.

All that was good in Rhodes, all his romantic longings which
had not been throttled by his ambition for 'money that is
power', emerged in his urge to express his naked self derobed of
the ugliness brought upon him by the 'struggle for life' and the
'survival of the fittest'. In his last years, when in a reflective mood,
he repeatedly said that 'the greatest of all life's pleasures is the
faculty of creation'. And it is remarkable that he did not mention
as his creations the foundations of his private empire in Central

[244]

GROOTE SCHUUR

Africa, the Cape to Cairo line, the penetration of the African
continent by telegraph and railway, the amassing of one of the
greatest fortunes in the British Empire or the mastership over
the diamond industry., but referred with pride to Groote Schuur
and its park. He would point from the stoep in the back of his
house towards the mountain view which grew, as it were, slowly
out of the loveliness of eye-blinding blues and reds and purples
and greens and yellows and mauves and whites of the flowers,
out of the shrubs, the hedges and the trees, wild and tamed, to
form, in harmonious set chords or in exciting strange dissonances,
a sonorous chorus of colour to the glory of the sun. Then he
would say:

*It is a thing of my own creation: creative genius, that's what
I've got. It is a great thing to have/

Even his 'foible of ske' did not interfere with making the
formal garden in the front and back of the house a full success.
All the expert gardeners warned him that hydrangeas would not
grow in the sandy soil of the hills around the house. *They told
me I couldn't grow cotton in Natal/ was Rhodes' reply, and he
ordered whole acres on the hills and in the groves to be planted
with hydrangeas. He wanted to have a 'blue lake of hydrangeas',
and he succeeded. To this day at Christmas-time the hydrangeas
fill the garden of Groote Schuur with a flower-lake in all the shades
of blue, pink and purple.

His favourite flower, however, was the simple light blue
blossom of the plumage shrub of which he had hedges built all
around the terraces at the back of the house against masses of
bougainvillaeas. Almost throughout the year a plumage blossom
could be seen in Rhodes' buttonhole.

All his efforts were directed towards the enjoyment of an
unobstructed view of the mountain. Although he hated to fell
trees, a number of pines had to fall victim to the axe because he
wanted to see the mountain from his bed as soon as he opened
his eyes.

Rhodes' favourite seat was on the slopes of the mountain,
where he had built himself a bench. To this spot he would often
retreat on his rides, fastening his horse to an aloe plant. From
there he would glance with satisfaction at the long rich grass
which covered the paddocks like a thick green catpet. This grass
was his pride, and no honour meant more to him than when later

[245]

RHODES OF AFRICA

the grass (CMoris Compnssa} was called 'Rhodes Grass*. He had
found It growing on a farm near Queenstown, where French
Moravian Brothers had cultivated it from seed which they had
brought from India. After Rhodes 9 success with it, seed of the
grass was exported to all parts of the world.

After his horticultural success Rhodes wanted to improve *4$o
the fauna on his estate. He imported from England several
hundred nightingales, thrushes, rooks, starlings and chaffinches
as well as squirrels. Of the birds only the starlings survived and
multiplied to such an extent that today they have turned into a
serious threat to the Cape's fruit crops, just as the squirrels have
become a cursed pest beyond control. Such failure did not dis-
courage Rhodes. He fenced off a large slice of land where wild
animals, particularly South African species, could live in their
natural surroundings, and he began a private zoological garden
where he kept In cages lions, leopards, monkeys, baboons and
a few birds of prey. The upkeep of the lions alone cost Rhodes
more than 200 a year. Once, during a meat shortage, they had
to be fed on imported cold-storage meat, the high cost of which
Rhodes, with reference to the feeding of his lions, used as an
argument in Parliament against the duty on meat.

One Sunday morning he saw a picture of the Temple of
Theseus, and the idea occurred to him that the straight lines of the
classical architecture in its marble whiteness would contrast
splendidly with the greyness of the mountains and that such a
structure was ideal for a lion-house. Baker was summoned imme-
diately. He was horrified at the thought. He tried to dissuade
Rhodes by telling him that the lions would immediately fight and
kill each other. Rhodes replied excitedly:

*So much the better; it is their nature to, and they would enjoy
themselves the more/

But Rhodes soon forgot the project and began to occupy him-
self with the building of roads. With his own money he built one,
eight miles long, leading from Rondebosch through his estate and
the sun-drenched vineyards of Constantia, to the seaside at Hout
Bay. On each side of 'Rhodes Drive 7 he planted trees: red-
flowering gum trees, camphor trees and the only chestnut trees
in the Cape,

It was not only for himself that he undertook all this work. His
friends were to enjoy his house and park with him, and his whole

GROOTE SCHUUR

estate was to be open to the public from morning to nightfall.
Groote Schuur became Cape Town's most popular picnic spot,
and people, white and black and brown, arrived there in every
kind of vehicle to spend the day. Rhodes raised no objections to
these mass invasions; on the contrary 'How delightful to see
one's fellow-creatures about, enjoying themselves/ he said.

*Why do I love my garden? Because I love to dream there/
Rhodes confessed another time. And he wanted others e to come
and dream also'. Out of this idea grew a plan to create *a cottage
in the woods for poets and artists. If they live in beautiful sur-
roundings', Rhodes explained, c they will be better inspired to
interpret through their art the beauty and grandeur of the
country/ He built a roomy cottage amid the pine trees, and when
it was almost completed he invited to Eve there the English poet
who lay nearer than any other to his romantic heart: Rudyard
Kipling was asked to come to *The Woolsack 9 every year during
the English winter and *hang up his hat there*.

The imposing landscape held Rhodes spellbound. He once took
Sir George Martin, the eminent organist of St Paul's Cathedral, to
see *my view*. After they had sat for many minutes Rhodes said
to him, speaking hesitantly:

T)o you know why I brought you here? . . . Well, I have had
many artists here and have wished them to paint this view but
they can't do it. They can't grasp the enormous expanse. Now
I want you, when you go back to think of this scene, and put it
in your music at St Paul's/

Rhodes' other contacts with art and literature were few. The
pride of place in Rhodes' library was held by a sculpture of the
bird Phoenix in soapstone, probably of Phoenician origin, found
among the ruins of the Zimbabwe temples.

The Phoenix appealed to Rhodes' romantic vein particularly.
He consulted many books on the subject and acquired a thorough
knowledge of Africa's earliest times. The Phoenix bird Rhodes
chose as his emblem and used it liberally for decorative purposes
in his house. One copy was made for the Committee Room of
the Cape Executive Council *in order that members might in their
deliberations realize their puniness when they contemplated that
emblem of antiquity'.

In a cabinet, also in the library, Rhodes ke|>t a collection of
excavations in stone and bronze connected with the Phallic cult

RHODES OF AFRICA

of the Phoenicians. His interest in the Phallus worship of some
mysterious early settlers in Central Africa was misunderstood and
maliciously misinterpreted by some visitors to Groote Schuur,
giving rise to ugly rumours about Rhodes* abnormal sexuality.
The scandalmongers linked their tales, the same as those which
had already been whispered in Kimberley years before, with the
fact that Rhodes had only bachelor friends, that he kept his
private secretaries only as long as they were not married, and
that there was not a single female servant employed at Groote
Schuur.

Poor Rhodes, he never seemed able to escape scandalous
rumours! At the beginning a great number of coloured and
Native girls had been working in his house and kitchen, until he
learnt that people in town had been spreading the maddest stories
about wild orgies going on at Groote Schuur in which his
chambermaids and scullery maids were supposed to be playing
the leading parts. So disgusted was Rhodes that he immediately
dismissed all female employees and did not allow even the wives
of his men-servants and labourers to live on his estate.

Besides some very fine old French tapestry in the billiard-room
and dining-room, there were few pictures on the walls. He was
very proud of one picture, a portrait of a young woman by
Sir Joshua Reynolds. Often he had the picture taken down and
with his friends studied its details. Rhodes said that she repre-
sented his idea of female beauty, that he had known her from an
illustration in a book and loved her since he was a lad of seveft or
eight. With a peculiar look in his eyes, he told his friends, as
though in confidence: *I call her my lady!*

Certain books, as we have seen, had played an influential part
in Rhodes* spiritual development when the cultural impact
received at Oxford had flung the intellectually sterile young
digger from Kimberley too suddenly into the heights of classical
civilization, the glaciers of philosophy and the crevasses of
historical science. Those books which had first fertilised his
brain in a belated and long-drawn-out puberty continued to feed
Rhodes, the cynic, the unscrupulous hasarder, the arbitrary
dictator, with the romantic ideas necessary to him as an antidote
against the soul-destroying realism of his abject business methods*
On his travels over the veld he always had handy in his ox-wagon
pocket editions of his favourite books, especially a complete

[248]

GROOTE SCHUUR

edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Those
same books, together with Bryce's American Commonwealth^
Milner's England in Egypt, Mahan's Influence of Sea Pomr and some
biographies of Napoleon, could always be found on the book-
shelves in his be.droom.

Rhodes' great interest in Napoleon was shown by the many
works of Napoleonic literature in his library. On several occasions
Rhodes mentioned that there was not a single biography of the
Corsican that he had not read, yet he could never be drawn into
a discussion about Napoleon. Carlyle and Froude were also
favourites of his. Novels only served him to kill time on his long
journeys. Once, when he was about to leave for England, he
asked his secretary how long they would be on board, and on
being told twenty days, he gave orders to put forty of the latest
novels into his cabin trunk: 'One for the morning, one for the
afternoon, that means forty books/ Rhodes explained. A London
bookseller had a standing order to send him weekly parcels of the
most important new publications, but Rhodes rarely found the
time to read them. If he thought a book might interest him, he
gave it to one of his secretaries to make a summary for him,
because, he said, he *had not time to wade through books full of
padding**

He was still not interested, as he had already confessed at
Oxford, *in the class of people Dickens wrote about 9 , and only
a few of his books and several of Thackeray's novels, of which
he liked Vanity Fair best, were to be found in his library. His
acquaintance with even the well-known books of his time must
have been very scanty. He once gave a friend's young daughter
R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island as a present saying:

'You ought to read it; it's a very good book very instructive/

'Have you read it, Mr Rhodes?' the child asked.

In annoyed tones and flushing red, Rhodes told her:

*Now you run away and playl*

It seems strange that the only work of fiction which aroused
his admiration and which he considered a great novel, The Choir
Invisible, should have been by an American author, James Lane
Allen (1849-1925).

Another work of fiction, also by a foreigner, Emile Zola's
Germinal, had a great effect on him too, though of a different kind:
it pinched his social conscience. If Zola had known that his

RHODES OF AFRICA

laboriously created document bumain of the saga of the Rougon-
Macquart family would help to improve the lot of miners in
South Africa, he would certainly have rejoiced though he would
hardly have understood why only workmen of a white skin should
benefit.

It was in a London drawing-room that Rhodes stated:
c lt was the reading of Germinal which caused me to realize the
necessity of providing decent homes and harmless pleasures for
the Kimberley miners/ But Rhodes' freshly awakened social
conscience did not go so far as to make him think of the thousands
of Natives, crammed together and locked up in De Beets*
compounds.

No book fascinated Rhodes as much as did Gibbon's great
work. It kept him under a spell until his end with never-abating
strength. One would have thought that his real interest lay in
Elizabethan times, in *men of action* of the size of Raleigh or
Drake, or in those of a later century Clive or Hastings whose
qualities as 'Empire-builders' closely resembled his own. What
was it then that caused him instead to devote himself to the
period when the mighty Roman Empire was undergoing a process
of decay? It was evident that Rhodes was not so much interested
in the Roman Empire as in those deified despots who were the
absolute masters of her fate. Yet the fascination which the
degenerate Roman emperors, whose vices and perversities filled
normal men with disgust, held for Rhodes, offers a psychological
problem all the more difficult to solve because Rhodes, in his
general, political, social and cultural conceptions, in his*education
and in his associations, was so thoroughly English,

Some other points in Rhodes' taste also form an apparently
insoluble contradiction: only two men were represented by their
likenesses in Bis house. In the drawing-room there stood a bronze
bust of Robert Burns, though none of Ms works were to be found
in his library nor did Rhodes ever allude to a liking for the poet
or even to having read any of his works. For the privacy of his
bedroom one would have thought that the 'great Empire-builder*
would have chosen for inspiration a portrait of his Queen or at
least that of one of England's national heroes. The Squire of
Groote Schuur preferred, however, on opening his eyes in the
morning, to look at a portrait of Prince Bismarck. Perhaps the
portrait of the Iron Chancellor' was meant to serve Rhodes as

GROGTE SCHUUR

a daily reminder of the dangers threatening South Africa from
German MacbtpoKtik. Or was it expected to instil in him some-
thing of Bismarck's obduracy?

Rhodes' rektionship to the Roman emperors was of quite a
different nature, probably completely unpolitical and purely per-
sonal. He felt something 'foreign* in himself and thought that it
might have originated in some Roman blood which his early
ancestors, whose connection with an Aegean island was indicated
by the family name, had brought with them to England. When-
ever Rhodes was mistaken for a Jew he became very embarrassed.
In his later years certain Semitic features became more con-
spicuous so that he never allowed photographs or paintings to
be done in profile. His sister Edith once told a friend: 'There is no
doubt of some Jewish blood in us and Cecil knows it as well as
I do, but he prefers it to be Roman/ When Rhodes was given
a gift of a medallion of Titus because he looked exactly like this
Roman Emperor* his interest was immediately aroused and he
obtained pictures of contemporary statues, busts and medals to
make further comparisons. He liked to show these pictures of
Titus to visitors and always pointed out: 'What a fine forehead
he's got!* Once one of Ms servants had to hold a mirror so that
Rhodes could see his profile in another mirror and compare it
with that of Titus.

On his voyage to England after having acquired Groote
Schuur, Rhodes spent all his time reading Gibbon. He found that
the great historian dealt with the causes for Rome's political
decadence rather than with personalities. He wanted to know all
and everything about the Roman emperors with all the little details
about their lives and characters. In London he consulted the old-
established bookshop of Hatchards in Piccadilly, and asked them
to procure for him a collection of all the authorities and sources
used by Gibbon for his work, but in English translations. He was
told that most of these works had never been translated into
English* 'Then they will have to be translated/ was Rhodes* reply,
and he gave the astonished bookseller what was certainly the
strangest order ever given by a book-collector or received by a
bookseller: Hatchards had to engage a staff of classical scholars,
sometimes as many as twenty, who were kept busy for six years
translating from the Latin and Greek and also procuring photo-
graphs of contemporary illustrations. Everyone working on the

RHODES OF AFRICA

scheme was bound to absolute secrecy. Only one copy was made
of each work, typed on special hand-made paper and bound
together with the original text in red marocain-leather. Rhodes
had forgotten that the later chapters of Gibbon's work dealt with
early Christianity and was therefore surprised to receive volume
after volume of works translated from Greek and Latin Church
Fathers which dealt with intricate theological problems and
casuistic ritual arguments. Urgent cables were sent to London to
stop the supply of more theological sources and to arrange that
farther work should concentrate on the lives of the Roman
emperors. The complete collection amounted to several hundred
volumes at a cost of about 50,000*

The danger that his imagination might be fanned by the history
of Rome and that the study of it might become an obsession and
degenerate into grandiose delusions must have occurred to
Rhodes. In his pocket edition of Marcus Aurelius* Meditations the
following passage was underlined and often quoted by him:

Take care always to remember that you are a Roman and let every
action be done with perfect and unaffected gravity, humanity,
freedom and justice. And be sure you entertain no fancies which
may give check to these qualities. . . . Have a care you have not too
much of a Caesar and that you are not dyed with that dye. This is
easily learned, therefore guard against the infection. Be candid,
virtuous, sincere and modestly grave.

It can hardly be maintained that Rhodes acted according to this
wise advice of the Roman sage. But it has to be admitted in
Rhodes' defence that his stupendous success would have turned
the head of any man and filled him with an imperturbable sense
of infallibility, a burning urge of self-importance and an un-
swerving sense of God-like elevation. The year 1895 had brought
Rhodes to the pinnacle of his career: his Queen had honoured
him ('such a remarkable man*) by the nomination as Privy
Councillor. He now became the Right Honourable Cecil Rhodes,
P.C., ranking high on the social ladder. He was able to reply
proudly to the Queen when she asked him what he had lately
done:

*I have been adding new provinces of several hundred thousand
square miles to Your Majesty's already wide dominions/

But it was really his own empire which Rhodes had built up

[252]

GROOTE SCHUUR

in Africa between latitude 30 south and ktitude 5 north. He had
fulfilled the dream of his youth to paint the map of Africa red,
British red. The Cape to Cairo railway scheme was progressing;
Rhodesia was already linked by rail with the Cape and with the
east coast. His telegraph line had reached Central Africa,

The financial difficulties of the last years had been overcome.
The n shares of the British South Africa Chartered Company,
though no dividends had ever been paid and were not to
be paid until 1923 had reached the fantastic price of more
than 9.

At a shareholders* meeting of the Chartered Company Rhodes
had strengthened popular optimism by saying: *I think we may
fairly say that we shall balance in the future. The new country is
"mineralized" and all will be well.'

The appearance of the 'Colossus* at the shareholders' meeting
had brought Rhodes a great personal success and enough pub-
licity to raise Chartered shares still higher. A week later a lecture
at the Imperial Institute, with the Prince of Wales as chairman,
given by Dr Jameson who had just been decorated with the
Order of the Bath, brought the valuable public royal sanction for
Rhodes* enterprises. At a subsequent banquet Rhodes and
Jameson were the guests of honour.

Although Rhodes had already said more than enough about
Rhodesia's rosy future, Dr Jameson surpassed him in speaking
about 'innumerable gold-fields*. It led people acquainted with
Rhodesian conditions to ask 'whether his talk was the result of
ignorance, windy hope, the dinner or a purely fraudulent inten-
tion, as every major statement was fantastically wrong'. Though
no gold to any extent had as yet been found in Rhodesia, more
than 200 mining companies had been floated and their shares had
been taken up eagerly at a premium on the London Stock
Exchange.

In the season of 1895 Cecil Rhodes was lionized by London
Society. He was now generally accepted as belonging to the
Prince of Wales' intimate set. No longer did he stay at the busy
middle-class hotel, the Westminster Palace Hotel. Now he booked
at the Burlington Hotel, where, at a daily price of 25 , he occupied
a suite consisting of a sitting-room, a dining-room and several
bedrooms. There he held court like a sovereign, attended by his
private secretaries, his servants and a whole bevy of minions.

RHODES OF AFRICA

Members of the Royal Family came to call on Mm; ambassadors
of the great Powers left their cards; the scions of England's oldest
noble families paid their respects to him. In his sitting-room there
also assembled all those who had something to sell and his
secretaries were hard put to it to prevent them from penetrating
farther than the antechamber.

Not even the strongest barriers could keep out Rhodes' many
friends. They flattered him; they made him drunk with their
admiration; they encouraged him in Ms pride, Ms conceit and his
belief in his own infallibility. The extent to wMch they went in
their disgusting adoration can be judged by the words of W. T.
Stead, who in the Review of T^eviews spoke of Rhodes as c the only
man in the West with ideas that can be compared for the moment
with those of the Pope for comprehensive scope and breadth of
purpose 7 . Rhodes, always prone to self-assertion and presump-
tiveness, needed little encouragement. His great success killed all
self-criticism in him.

At tMs time Rhodes commanded a yearly Income, as he kter
stated on oath, of considerably more than 1 million. From De
Beers alone he derived 300,000 to .400,000 and from Goldfields
200,000 to 300,000. His profits from Ms large share transactions
were not included in tMs income. It was not the possession of Ms
enormous wealth alone wMch led Mm to feel beyond good or
evil and far above the accepted rules and laws governing the lives
of ordinary citizens. He felt the power wMch Ms money had
brought Mm. His aim of acMeving power through wealth had
now been realked, and he was determined to make use of this
power in completing the ultimate goal of Ms ambitions to
become the absolute and supreme master over the whole of
South Africa.

In Ms capacity as Prime Minister Rhodes checked any resistance
by Ms old system of 'squaring*. No longer did he trouble to use
Ms charm or joviality to take an opponent *on the personal*.
Brutal coercion had taken its place. To one of Ms critics, who had
taken exception to Rhodes* triple business position as interfering
with Ms PremiersMp, Rhodes gave a seat in Ms Cabinet. Once,
when Ms Ministers were raising difficulties at a Cabinet meeting,
he told them bluntly:

'You think I cannot fill your places in the Ministry. Well I
have another hungry dog to whom I can throw a bone Mr X,'

GROOTE SCHUUR

Where his business was concerned, Rhodes did not shrink from
anything which would further his interests. In the United States
the Kinley Tariff imposed a duty on luxury goods so high that it
made the export of diamonds to the United States almost impos-
sible. A movement for the repeal of this high protective tariff
-was started in the United States in 1893. Rhodes, on the advice
of American diamond merchants, charged an agent to do some
extensive lobbying for him in Washington, and to suggest in his
name *in return for some support of the silver cause in die United
States* the freeing of diamonds from any import duty.

In the United States, with presidential elections soon coming up,
political feelings were running high in 1 894 over the two issues of
the Silver Purchase Act and the Tariff reform* At such a time of
most serious political and economic upheaval Rhodes, the Prime
Minister of a British Colony, decided to enter Washington's
political arena. It did not occur to him that he had no official status
that entitled him to interfere with a totally internal political matter
of a foreign country. Neither could he claim the privilege of the
freedom of action of a private individual. His many engagements
did not allow him to visit the United States himself as he had
planned. He thought that a letter would do just as well, and thus
he sent to the President, with copies to all the Senators, a letter
full of fulminant threats, promises and good advice.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, in the name of thirty-three other
Senators, gave an appropriate answer to 'the recent astonishing
communication to the President of the United States from the
Premier of Cape Colony'. He wondered what right the sender had
*to suggest another proper exercise of this legitimate discrimina-
tion'.

Senator Lodge thought that such impertinence of foreign
interference deserved a strong rebuke by coldly stating the actual
facts in contrast to the distorted views of this arrogant man who
was in control of a world diamond monopoly:

. . . Since the discovery of the Kimberley diamond fields less than a
quarter century ago, diamonds to the value $175,000,000 have been
imported into the United States. ... It is estimated that the country
now absorbs from one third to a half of the annual product of these
South African diamond mines, which are controlled by English
investors, who have limited the output, created a trust and practically
control the price of the diamonds of the world. . . ,

RHODES OF AFRICA

A duty of 30 per cent on diamonds was suggested by these

tMrty-three Senators in order to

check consumption and reduce the excessive artificial prices for
these stones which now prevail and might induce people of Cape
Colony to believe that the present attitude of Great Britain in relation
to silver is not only unfair and unjust but is also injurious to the

interests of that colony.

Such reverses did not discourage Rhodes for long* His position
in England was now so firmly established that the few Liberal
newspapers and financial journals which were still criticizing him
sharply no longer worried him:

'Newspapers do you think I care a continental fig what the
newspapers may say? I am strong enough to do what I choose in
spite of the whole pack of themP

Nevertheless he never missed an opportunity to bring his
influence to bear on newspapers. In South Africa he had brought
several under his control. But it has to be said for the integrity of
South African journalists that no editor ever wrote to his dictation
or refrained from publishing something which Rhodes did not
like. As long as the editors followed the big line of his policy he
left them sufficient rope in as far as details were concerned and
did not mind even an occasional criticism of some minor political
problem, Rhodes never attempted to use any of his papers or any
independent journalist for his financial manipulations*

Rhodes was, however, very sensitive about personal criticism
in the Press* though in most cases he refrained from prosecution
for libel. Only once, after the occupation of Matabeleland, did he
sue several London publications for their personal attacks and
brought successful actions for damages against them.

He was annoyed by an unfriendly comment in The Saturday
Review just after his appointment as Privy Councillor and when
he came to London its editor, Frank Harris, increased his attacks.
With his knowledge of 'squaring*, Rhodes found it easy to come
to terms with Harris, though experience had lately taught him
that people could be 'like many plants, or one should say, trees;
once you start watering them you must continue to do so'.

Only rarely had Rhodes met people who refused to be either
'squared* or 'taken on the personal'. Not many had the strength
of character of the devout missionary Francois Coillard, who,

[256]

GROOTE SCHUUR

when offered the position of Commissioner of Barotseland as a
bribe to help Rhodes persuade the tribal chiefs to sign their
territories away, knelt down and prayed: *Oh, my God, let not
Thy servant be the martyr of a political transaction!'

Another exception was Samuel Cronwright. In 1894 he married
the famous South African authoress Olive Schreiner, who at one
time was an admiring friend of Rhodes', but later became one of
his bitterest antagonists. The Cronwrights, for reasons of Olive's
health, had moved to Kimberley, where they formed a new party
with the aim of fighting Rhodes and the Bond, whom they
accused of preparing war against the Transvaal in order to
overthrow Kruger.

To utter such unfriendly political thoughts about the 'Colossus*,
particularly in his own citadel, was considered treason and blas-
phemy or perhaps only an attempt at blackmail. After Cronwright
had delivered a lecture at the Kimberley Literary Society, the
bitterness of which, in an attack on Rhodes, easily revealed the
main author as his wife, the gentlemen in the De Beers board-
room thought that the time had come to put a stop to such
dangerous activities.

If it was not possible to 'square' this obstinate fellow and his
fanatical wife even though they needed the money badly, Rhodes
would have to find %ome other means of counteracting their
dangerous propaganda against himself and the Bond. He commu-
nicated with Hofmeyr, who recommended to him as a useful
propagandist a young man, Jan Smuts, who had just returned
from Cambridge. Hofmeyr reminded Rhodes that they had met
Smuts seven years earlier as Head Student at the Stellenbosch
Victoria College.

Rhodes engaged Smuts, who had just established himself as
a barrister in Cape Town, to work for him by writing political
articles and delivering speeches. One of his first tasks was to appear
in Kimberley and, in answer to the Cronwright-Schreiners* fulmi-
nant challenge, to address the De Beers Mines Political and
Debating Society on the subject of 'The Political Situation*.

When the president and secretary of the society went to the
station to meet the speaker they were astonished to find a pale-
faced, blue-eyed, ridiculously thin and tall young man 'without
hair on his face*, who looked no more than seventeen. They had
expected Mr Jan Christiaan Smuts, the twenty-five-year-old Cape

[257]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Town advocate who^ besides his Stelienbosch degrees In Litera-
ture and Science, had won the rare distinction of several prizes in
Law at Cambridge and had been offered a fellowship there, to
look rather different.

When the Mayor introduced the speaker to the 2,ooo-odd
people who packed Klmberley's town hall that October evening
in 1 895, they were at first amused at the idea that this insignificant-
looking bit of a lad should have anything to tell them about the
political position that they did not already know. But they listened
to him with growing interest. Though he did not tell them any-
thing new, though they disagreed with him in almost everything
he said, though they knew that most of Ms statements were far
removed from fact, they soon fell under the spell of his oratorical
power. When the people went home after having listened for two
hours to his arguments they were convinced, at least for some
time, that the Cronwright-Schreiners were false prophets and that
Cecil Rhodes was indeed a wonderful, honest, altruistic, and
benevolent man.

Rhodes could not have found a better propagandist. He was in
urgent need of a strong defender not only of his ideas but still
more of Ms own personality. By 1895 even old friends were
complaining that success and Ms fabulous wealth had killed in
Rhodes that old boyish 'magnetic* charm and the simple com-
radesMp and warm cordiality wMch he had always shown towards
them. It had lately been supplanted by a ridiculous pomposity, a
repulsive arrogance bordering on megalomaniac disdain of every-
one else. His cynicism, Ms tactlessness and Ms gniffness no longer
knew any bounds and often, when applied on defenceless objects,
took the form of mental sadism.

After the occupation of Matabeleland Rhodes had seen to it
that the few sons of Lobengula who had not been killed were
removed from the territory, in order to prevent any future trouble
led by members of the Royal House. Three sons of the younger
wives, all bright young lads, he took with Mm to Cape Town and
had them educated there. Their holidays they spent at Groote
Schuur.

One day he was telling some friends about Rhodesia and be-
came confused about the dates. The three Matabele boys, aged
fourteen, fifteen and eighteen, were working in the garden,
Rhodes called to them, shouting from the stoep: *Let me see, what

GROOTE SCHUUR

year was It I kilied your father? 5 His guests were still more shocked
when the three boys whether out of politeness or embarrass-
ment joined in the shrill staccato giggle with which Rhodes
foEowed Ms words.

Another time, when Rhodes was showing visitors around his
house, he pointed to his bed and said: 'This is where I lie and
think in continents! *

life at Groote Schmir was ruled by almost regal pomp which
Rhodes 9 old friends found hard to reconcile with the unceremo-
nious, unconventional, free and even coarse ways of the Cecil
Rhodes of old. They did not feel at home in Groote Schuur,
where evening dress was now ds rigueur., though the master of the
house often appeared in his usual day-time attire of white trousers,
Norfolk sports jacket and veldschoens coarse shoes made locally
of untreated leather. To one of the first official dinners at Groote
Schuur, Rhodes had invited all the high state dignitaries headed
by the Chief Justice (later Lord) and Mrs De Villiers. All the
guests had been asked to appear five minutes earlier than Mr
Justice De Villiers. A ceremonial plan had been worked out,
such as Rhodes had recently learnt at Sandringham and Windsor.
The staff, who had been instructed accordingly, were under the
direction of young J. Morris, a former InniskiUing Dragoon, who
acted as major-domo, housekeeper, librarian, steward, bailiff and
travelling secretary.

The guests were all assembled when both wings of the door
were opened and Norris, solemnly marching ahead, announced
in his sonorous dragoon-sergeant-major voice: *His Honour the

Right Honourable Chief Justice De Villiers * All eyes searched

for Rhodes to welcome his guest of honour. There was no sign
of Rhodes until they noticed the seat of his pants sticking out
from beneath a sofa where he had gone in search of his shoe
which he had slipped off because it pinched him.

Norris was probably the only one towards whom Rhodes only
rarely employed his usual strong language* One of Norris* duties
was always to carry a pocket dictionary with him as Rhodes was
continually at war with the spelling of even the most common
words. Norris used to say: * . . And so I taught Mm the simple
words and" (with a wink) *he taught me the hard ones/ It was
difficult for Norris to bring any kind of order into the household
of Groote Schuur, the upkeep of which swaEowed a monthly

RHODES OF AFRICA

an< i even when closed 900. Without warning Rhodes
would bring home for dinner up to twenty people when only
eight guests had been prepared for. He hated to be alone at meals.
Sometimes there were assembled at Rhodes' table the strangest
and most varied collection of men: a stiff English nobleman and
a clumsy sick trooper on leave from Rhodesia; an old spitting
gold prospector and a titled 'remittance' man; a saintly missionary
and a pompous nouveau ricbe Rand magnate; a scientist and a
business man; a bishop and a wine-farmer; a mining engineer and
an Afrikaner Karroo sheep-farmer could be found there sharing
an uncomfortable meal.

Sometimes Rhodes invited guests on a Friday for the week-end
without informing Norris, and they would number more than
there were beds in the house. On one occasion Rhodes met a
friend in Cape Town, and during the course of conversation he
said: 'You must come out to Groote Schuur to stay with me for
some days,* to which the friend replied indignantly: 'But, Mr
Rhodes, I have been staying with you for the last week.*

Old friends were surprised by the type of men with whom
Rhodes now surrounded himself. Though Rhodes had always
proved himself to be a good judge of men after a short acquain-
tanceship, he now did not seem to mind the parasites, the spongers
and the spittle-lickers who became predominant at his 'court* and
were known as 'Rhodes' jackals'. It was particularly strange to see
the great number of doctors whom Rhodes entrusted with the
most important and delicate assignments which had nothing to
do with their medical profession. After his lucky experience with
Dr Jameson he must have thought that in every medico there
slumbered a genius for colonial administration, a talent for
diplomacy and a gift for political intrigue. Among the younger
doctors, he had chosen as his special confidant Dr Rutherford
Harris who had come out from England for health reasons a few
years earlier. Since he spent most of his time hunting and since
his medical abilities and his intelligence were none too great, he
was not able to earn an income sufficient for a life of luxury to
which he thought himself entitled. Dr Harris thought that he
could do everything better than anyone else. He decided that he
would speculate in mining shares and show those Kimberley Jew-
boys of the Stock Exchange a thing or two. Within a few weeks
all the savings for which his father had worked for a lifetime were

[260]

GROOTE SCHUUR

lost. Rhodes engaged Mm and witMn a short time he had risen
to the position of Secretary to the Chartered Company and also
handled Rhodes' private, political and public affairs. When asked
why he had given him such a position of trust, Rhodes, who like
everyone else had a very low opinion of Dr Harris 5 intellectual
and moral qualities, sighed and replied in a tone of resignation:
'There is something against everyone. I must take men as I find
them/

Even before later events had proved Harris* unreliability > his
criminal corruptness, his pathological mendacity, his love for
double-crossing intrigue, his disloyalty, his vain stupidity and
stupid vanity and his arrogance, Rhodes described him as *a rogue
and at times a furious inebriate'. Dr Jameson, who knew him even
better, spoke of him as c a muddling ass on the surface a genius
but under the crust as thick as they are made*. A friend called
him publicly 'an unmitigated liar* even before he was stamped in
Parliament as 'the greatest and most unashamed liar, a perjurer
of the meanest sort, a man without any moral sense'.

Such was the man whom Rhodes chose to represent him per-
sonally as well as the Chartered Company during the delicate
negotiations with the British Government in 189 5.

Why, Rhodes was asked, did he surround himself with so many
doctors? *I like doctors for my work, because their calling gives
them such an insight into humanity,' was his reply to which he
later added, followed by the usual squeaky laughter: 'and because
when there is blood-letting to be done, they are less squeamish/

In former times an answer such as this, dripping with savage
cynicism, would not have shocked his friends those few real and
unselfish friends who did not buckle under the 'Colossus'* But
they were beginning to detect behind this sardonic contempt for
human values the ugliness of unmasked brutality, of unrestrained
recklessness and of a morbid rancour. No longer did he try to
control the eruptions of the boiling geysers of his temperament.
No longer did he allow decisions to mature with the warmth of
contemplation. No longer did he let his carefully laid plans ripen
slowly into success. Everything had to be done quickly without
regard to the means employed. He wanted to play God and use
his powers to direct the fate of men, the destiny of nations, the
future of a whole continent. What had once been 'imaginations*
and 'dreams' had now become obsessions that did not allow

RHODES OF AFRICA

natural obstacles or human obstructions to stop, delay at quieten
Ms turbulent will.

The pain in his chest caused by the pressure of the heart, the
wild pulsation of the 'water hammer 5 on his wrists and the fright-
ful feeling as though the heart would burst, showed that Ms
leaking heart-valves were working overtime. And every stroke of
Ms heart, every pulsation on Ms wrist, seemed to be telling him:
Hurry, hurry your time is running out. Rhodes often said that
he was sure he would not become older than forty-five years. He
was now in his forty-first year. Only four more years were left in
wMch to finish all Ms "dreams 5 and Ms 'imaginations 3 . He sighed:
c The great fault of life is its shortness. Just as one is beginning to
know the game, one has to stopP

Rhodes began Ms race with Death. Faster! Hasten! No time
must be lost! Each heart-stroke, each breath, each tick of the clock
tortured Mm with the dreadful thought that Time was his master:
'It is a fearful thought to feel that jou possess a patent, and to
doubt whether your life will last you through the circumlocution

of the forms of the Patent Office We do get older, and we do

become a little hurried in our ideas because of that terrible time.
Time you can never interfere with.

Those who had not seen Mm for some time did not recognize
Rhodes. It was obvious that he was a very sick man. One friend
observed that he looked 'thin, grey and haggard'. And another that
he looks rather six years older than six months than when I saw
him last. He has fallen away in flesh and there is a faraway
appearance as though he had some special burden on his mind/

People who met Mm in one of his inspired loquacious moods
when he went on talking rapidly without pause and attracted
everyone by the brilliance of Ms conversation noticed something
strange in him wMch they would have attributed to the effects of
inebriation had they not seen for themselves that he had drunk
only moderately. Others maintained that he often gave the impres-
sion of being drugged. When they asked Dr Jameson, he discreetly
shrugged Ms shoulders*

The thought of an early death was rarely far from Rhodes'
mind. There were times when he wanted to forget his horror of
death. Someone only needed to tell him how well and young he
looked, that his mind was still young and that he would always
be a boy, and Rhodes would immediately be in an exultant mood.

GROOTE SCH0UR

Pacing up and down the room he would repeat over and over
again: *I am a boy! I am a boy! Of course I shall never get old. . . /
His eyes would suddenly regain their former lustre; Ms huge body
would lose its slovenly curve and become erect and towering. He
would stretch out his arms, his steps would sound full of energy
and with a jubilant cry he would sink down on the sofa and repeat
to himself: *I never felt younger! I never felt younger never
felt younger *

In addition to the fear of an early death there now came to the
surface his strong belief that he had been called upon by Fate to
perform a special mission in life. He now considered himself more
than the 'agent of fate*: he thought he was Fate Itself. What he
had done up to now, his conquest of the North, had been
described as 'the dream of a lunatic'. They knew now that 'the
lunacy of the project . . . had passed from the era of imagination
to practical completion'. And so Rhodes said, 'we have to com-
plete with all the rapidity we can the project that is before us
that is the project of uniting the North and the South of Africa*.
And there was no doubt in his mind that he had been ordained
to shape the destiny of the African continent* From the musings in
his library there remained firmly fixed in his mind the portraits,
the lives, the deeds and the thoughts of the Roman emperors.

*. . . Was it not always the little things that changed the world
and not the big things? All the great conquests of the world
came from accident. ... I was fortunate in forming an imaginative
conception and succeeding within a period that was hardly equal

to the term allotted to an Oxford student They might discover

the microbe of the rinderpest but would they ever find the microbe
of the human imagination? ... It came and thoughts came, and
I was moved as a human atom to carry out those thoughts. . . /

No power of imagination, no dreams, no musings over his old
map, could help him now. Recently he had warned one of his
associates: 'Don't deal with hypothetical cases deal with facts/
Rhodes himself, however, could not free himself from Ms medita-
tions over the completion of Ms great plans:

When I find myself in uncongenial company, or when people are
pkying their games, or when I am alone in a railway carriage, I shut
my eyes and think of my great idea. I turn it over in my mind and
try to get a new light on it; it is the pleasantest companion that
I have.

[2631

RHODES OF AFRICA

His conquest of the North was completed and needed only
consolidation. But the peak of his work the United States of
Southern Africa was still a long way from realization, Rhodes
had at last learnt that the obstacle was no longer the obstinacy
of a single old man, Paul Kruger, but the deeply rooted system of
conservative Calvinism, reactionary xenophobia and corruption
which Rhodes described as Krugerism and which a contem-
porary critic called the 'political economy of Spain in the days of
Phillip II applied by Kruger to the community of the most modern
and progressive manufacturers ever assembled together in one
spot'.

The Rand, where the gold output was ever increasing, gave the
little Boer republic tremendous political and economic power. As
the natural centre of South Africa the Transvaal had already in
1895 gained international importance. Johannesburg was an inter-
national town of 50,000 white inhabitants of which two-thirds
were British. In a new community like Johannesburg where the
chief interest of its population centred round the problem of
getting rich quickly, it was not surprising that the percentage of
low, even criminal elements was higher than in the older towns
of other countries. A British general referred to Johannesburg,
full of indignation, as 'Monte Carlo superimposed upon Sodom
and Gomorrah! probably the most corrupt, immoral and un-
truthful assemblage of beings at present in the worldP

A town such as this, grown suddenly out of the veld, with a
highly developed industry and being linked, through haute finance -,
with the international share-market and banks, stood in gross
contrast to the capital of the country, Pretoria, the little dreamy
Boer town only forty miles away. The mentality of Pretoria's
inhabitants had not changed in spite of the fact that the ox-wagon
had been replaced by the railway. The influx of the foreigners had
only strengthened their traditions by which they fortified them-
selves against any undesirable influence on the straitness of their
ways, the primitiveness of the economy and the simplicity of their
political system. The Uitlanders worshipped their idols in the
temple of the Stock Exchange, whereas the Boers were still
adhering to the laws of Moses. The new-comers were building
tfp their future on bank-credit while the Boers saw security only
in the possession of land and stock.

In the stagnated development of the Transvaal, Rhodes sensed

[264]

GROOTE SCHUUR

a threat to the balance in South Africa > fearing that his plans
would be frustrated and that Fate might direct the future of the
continent without him.

At first Rhodes had tried to bring the Transvaal into his
economic and political orbit, by the peaceful means of a customs
union, a railway-tariff convention, treaties on post, on coinage
and on the treatment of Natives and common laws which,, he was
sure, would sooner or later lead to closer relations and to the
ultimate absorption of the small republic. Behind these proposals,
the soundness of which many Boers did not deny, President
Kruger saw only the bogy of British imperialism, represented by
Rhodes, the ruthless land-grabber. He therefore declined all
Rhodes' approaches. At their last interview, towards the end of
1894, Rhodes had come to the conclusion that he would never
win over the 'old Dopper' by peaceful means. The only way left
to him was the removal of Kruger and Krugerism by force. It
was unlikely that any British Government would sanction war in
Africa, since they had to be on the look-out for possible aggressive
constellations by the big European Powers against Britain as a
result of her 'splendid isolation*.

There were other means which could be employed; tactics,
which in kter years became known as *cold war' and 'fifth-
column', and were to lead in their combination to bloodless
revolutions.

In Johannesburg the Uitlanders had been agitating fot several
years for the extension of the franchise to all aliens through the
political machinery of the National Union. This perfectly legal
and justified movement Rhodes decided to make his tool and to
load it with revolutionary fervour and a spirit of conspiracy and
fighting lust. He really believed that a 'revolution, like everything
else, could be ordered for money*, as Garrett kter wrote in the
Cape Tims. He could count on the full understanding and support
of the "shrewd financiers, keen men of action, life-long worship-
pers of money and material success, to whom a belief in Cecil
Rhodes became a substitute for religion'. He made the mistake of
forgetting that Johannesburg was in the midst of a gold-share
boom such as the world had never seen before. Rand shares, the
aggregate value of which had amounted to 50 million sterling in
1894, rose to 150 million sterling in September 1895. Of the 183
gold-mines of the Rand, however, only 79 yielded any gold, and

[265]

RHODES OF AFRICA

there were altogether only zj companies which were able to
declare dividends in 1896.

Rhodes now had no choice: he was forced into action. The
Chartered Company was again in serious financial troubles. No
gold of any intrinsic value had been found in Rhodesia and even
the last prospects were fading* So far the long-threatened bank-
ruptcy had been avoided only by the continual fresh issues of
shares and debentures. Since its existence the deficit of the
Company had reached the amount of 1,500,000 more than its
original nominal capital as the result of a cunning manipulation
of its financial affairs by which all the profits were absorbed by
Rhodes and his clique while the shareholders had to carry all the
expenses. In spite of this, Rhodes and Beit by clever manoeuvring
were keeping the price of shares up to 8 to fy though their real
value was about three to five shillings. Rhodes and his friends
made hay while the sun was still shining and unloaded large
parcels of their own shares on the gullible public. They needed
new funds to keep the Chartered Company afloat and to finance
the planned Johannesburg "revolution". The main purpose in
risking his position and fortune in a conspiracy against a friendly
neighbour-state was to save that very position and fortune from
ruin. If only he were able to "Kimberlize* the Rand, monopolize
Its gold-fields by amalgamation and combine them with his empty
Rhodesian gold-mines! Therein lay the Chartered Company's
and with it Cecil Rhodes' only salvation. It was therefore
imperative for him to bring the Transvaal under his thumb and
eliminate Kruger.

Before Rhodes would risk his money on a revolution, he first
tried to accomplish Kruger's removal by means of the blood of
British soldiers and the money of the British and Cape tax-payers:
he created a situation out of an unimportant issue which nearly
led to war against the Transvaal.

There was a dispute between Kruger and Rhodes about the
railway tariff on the fifty-two-mile stretch over Transvaal territory
which formed the connection on the Cape line between the Vaal
River and Johannesburg. Kruger had increased the freight-rate
in October 1895 in order to attract the oversea traffic away from
the Cape route to his Delagoa Bay-Johannesburg line. In answer
to this challenge Rhodes reduced the rate from the Cape to the
Transvaal border and organized an ox-wagon service to cover

[266]

GROOTE SCHUUR

the fifty-two miles over Transvaal territory. The wagons had to
cross the Vaal River on the Transvaal side through drifts, Kmger
promptly closed the drifts.

Rhodes had found a new and an unexpected ally in the new
master in the Colonial Office, Joseph Chamberlain, On studying
closely the old London Convention of 1884, Rhodes found a
suitable paragraph. He persuaded Chamberlain to turn the thumb-
screws on the Transvaal Government. Chamberlain was willing
to fall into line, provided that the Cape Government would bear
half the costs of a military expedition and would supply some of
the fighting force. Rhodes was in a quandary: he had to consider
the Bond, Hofmeyr and his Afrikaner colleagues in the Cabinet,
Using the TransvaaPs high customs tariff on the Cape's wine and
brandy as a weapon., he succeeded in bringing them all round
nicely. An ultimatum was sent to Kruger from London. The old
man was too wise to allow himself to be drawn into a war at an
hour convenient to Rhodes and Chamberlain. On 5 November
1895 he reopened the drifts and the incident was dosed.

When Chamberlain took over the Colonial Office, Rhodes had
immediately begun to speed up his preparations for the final
settlement with Kruger. Rhodes felt that pressure from within
the Transvaal would have to be supplemented by pressure from
without. A *war of nerves' would have to put Kruger into such
a state that the least provocation would act as dynamite and bring
about the required situation where an intervention by well, by
whom? probably, because it was cheaper, by the 'Imperial
Factor', would make tabula rasa of Krugerism in the Transvaal
for ever.

A field of operation was required from where Rhodes would be
able to put pressure on the Transvaal in assistance to the planned
Johannesburg rising. British Bechuanaland, which Rhodes had
helped to secure for Britain, was about to be handed over to the
Cape Colony as had been arranged in 1885. Rhodes had cast Ms
eyes on the northern part of Bechuanaland, the British Bechuana-
land Protectorate, which had been part of the Charter, but over
which the Chartered Company had not as yet been given adminis-
trative powers. Rhodes now asked for the incorporation of this
territory with Rhodesia.

At first, in the autumn of 1895, Whitehall seemed not dis-
inclined to grant Rhodes' demand. Chamberlain, however, felt

[z6 7 ]

RHODES OF AFRICA

that behind Rhodes* haste lay some nefarious plan. He therefore
purposely delayed his consent by going on holiday.

He had been right in his assumption that Rhodes was unduly
anxious to obtain the consent. The three paramount chiefs of
Bechuanaland, assisted by missionaries, were on their way to
London to beg the Great White Queen not to allow them to
suffer the same fate at Rhodes' hands as had been dealt out
to Lobengula. Seeing that they were good Christians and had
never allowed spirits to enter their lands, the London Missionary
Society and all the forces of Exeter Hall, thoroughly assisted by
the Liberal Press and by all the papers inimical to Rhodes, began
such loud protests that the Government had to refuse Rhodes'
demand. Boiling with rage, Rhodes let off steam in a cable to
Dr Rutherford Harris:

It is humiliating to be utterly beaten by these niggers. They think
more of one Native at home than the whole of South Africa ... I
never objected to this part of the agreement, but I do object to being
beaten by three canting Natives especially on the score of temperance
when two of them . . . are known to be utter drunkards. The whole
thing makes me ashamed of my own people.

Rhodes was not to be outwitted quite so easily. In November,
behind the back of the British Government, he made a direct
treaty with two minor chiefs by which he secured for himself, on
the pretext of needing it for his railway line but really as a
*jumping-off ground', a strip of land north of Mafeking. The
importance of the strip, though it was only six to ten miles wide,
was the fact that it joined the western Transvaal border. Chamber-
lain, after some hesitation, confirmed the sale and also made no
objections, though he was fully aware of the purpose, when
Rhodes assembled there a strong and heavily armed military
police force. Quite openly Rhodes recruited volunteers in
Rhodesia, took over into his service the dissolved Bechuanaland
Border Police and dispatched most of the Rhodesian Police to the
railway strip. Headquarters were established at Pitsani, a little
Native place near Mafeking on the Transvaal border. In com-
mand of this private army was Rhodes* raid specialist Sir John
Willoughby.

The open arming of a private army was being carried out right

[z68]

GROOTE SCHUUE

under the nose of the highest official of the administration of the
Bechuanaland Protectorate, Her Majesty's Commissioner, Sir
Francis Newton, Rhodes' old Oxford friend. And in Government
House in Cape Town Sir Graham Bower, the Imperial Secretary^
also one of Rhodes' friends, was let into the secret of Pitsani by
Rhodes, but prevented by his word of honour from speaking
about it to anyone. Rhodes had told him: 'If trouble in Johannes-
burg comes, I am not going to sit still. You fellows are infernally
slow* You can act if you like, but, if you do not act, I will.*

There was one man who had felt prophetically the storm-clouds
gathering over his head and had feared that his good name would
be sullied by the approaching mud-stream, finally to be buried
in the 'South African graveyard of reputations': Sir Henry Loch
preferred to return home dry and spotless and had thus retired
from office in March 1895.

Since at that time Rhodes' good friend Rosebery was still
occupying No. 10 Downing Street, Rhodes did not want Loch
replaced by one of those Whitehall bureaucrats or by a pompous
flag-waving, meddling, morning-coat-and-striped-trousers fellow.
He wanted Sir Hercules Robinson back as High Commissioner.
The Colonial Office was not very keen on recalling the old man
from retirement, knowing full well his dose personal and financial
links with Rhodes. When Chamberlain referred to this point in
the House of Commons Sir Hercules resigned from his various
directorships. His nomination was thereupon welcomed since he
was considered the most suitable person for the difficult position
in the time of a crisis in South Africa. Chamberlain eventually
dropped his objections.

After Robinson's nomination Rhodes wrote to him:

"... If we should ever come to difference, I promise you that
111 see in it a sign that I'm wrong.'

Robinson folded the letter carefully and put it in his pocket-
book, saying: 'This letter I'll keep/

With the ailing senile man installed in Government House and
his friend Sir Graham Bower muted, Rhodes felt himself com-
pletely unhindered and uncontrolled. The last remnants of his
conscience went overboard. The Prime Minister of the Cape
Colony* one of Her Majesty's Privy Councillors bound by several
holy oaths, instigated and took an active part in the smuggling
of arms from the Cape into the Transvaal, arms which were

RHODES OF AFRICA

destined to help conspirators against the lawful government of
a friendly foreign state!

It was the end of Cecil Rhodes as a responsible politician. He
had turned a political adventurer. And for what? For geological

reasons! Nature had had the silly idea of embedding gold in the
rocks of the Witwatersrand.

[270]

PART III

CHAPTER XIV

THE UPSET APPLECART

E year was drawing to a close. Between Christmas Eve and
JL the first days of January business life in Cape Town, follow-
ing an old custom, stops almost completely. The sky is far too
blue, the sun too hot, the sea too inviting, the shady slopes of the
mountains too attractive and the consequences of celebrating over
the Christmas holidays too exhausting to work before another
string of days of merry-making, the New Year holidays, begins.
Thus, whoever could afford it closed his store, his office or his
workshop and enjoyed the cool breeze of the Atlantic at Sea Point.
Those who were more enterprising suffered willingly the jolts and
bumps of the cape-carts in an uncomfortable sixteen-mile journey
to one of the rising fishing villages like Muizenberg on the False
Bay coast, to have a dip in the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean.
The Malays of the town, though strict Mohammedans, took the
opportunity of the Christian festival to make gay, the womenfolk
by dressing in the brightest colours and the men, only their fezes
and their brown faces indicating their eastern origin, by competing
in choir-singing, street against street, district against district.
Cape Town's numerous half-castes, the Cape Coloured, forgot all
the misery of their lives during this time of the year by abandon-
ing themselves completely to the celebration of their carnival
season. For weeks they had saved pennies to make themselves
fancy-dress costumes from the cheapest material, in which they
paraded through the town dancing and singing to the accompani-
ment of accordions, guitars or mouth-organs.

Everyone, whether rich or poor, indulged in some form of
pleasure and rejoiced in a happy festival mood. There was nothing
to worry the sedate inhabitants of Cape Town. Business men
could look back on a prosperous year. The Kimberley mines had
been busy; on the Rand everyone had prospered. Money there
had been plenty of it in the country, much of it due to the long
and tremendous boom on the share market. There had lately been
a little set-back, but that was probably only a passing phase.

[*73]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Wool prices had been satisfactory and, though the farmers had
as usual been complaining^ they had actually not experienced such
good times for many years. One had to admit that Mr Rhodes
with his 'Cabinet of AE Talents' had done well The 'Colossus*
himself^ as cautious merchants In the City Club often remarked,
had his fingers in too many pies and often took rather hazardous
risks* But why grumble, when he always got away with It?
Rumours had It that something was brewing on the Rand. People
just arrived from Johannesburg were actually speaking about a
revolution of the Ultlanders there against the Boer Government.
It was amazing, really, how long they tolerated the shame of
dancing to Oom Paul's tune. These rumours and the drop in
prices on the c Kaffir Circus* on the London Stock Exchange were
indeed a little disturbing. Perhaps one should worry about
it? But after all Mr Rhodes and his new boss in London, Mr
Joseph Chamberlain, had lately been showing the 'Old Dopper* In
Pretoria that he could no longer make sport of the British Lion. In
Government House, since die unapproachable Sir Henry Loch
had been replaced by dear old Sir Hercules Robinson, there
now prevailed a more energetic tone dictated by the 'Colossus',
who made sure that the old boy would jolly well let him do as
he liked.

At home, in the old country, the wind was blowing another
way too: Lord Rosebery was swept out of office with his party,
the Liberals, by a Tory tidal wave. With a majority of 152 Lord
Salisbury took over the reins for the third time. The effect of a
militant imperialism was immediately noticeable in Britain's
foreign politics: in spite of her 'splendid isolation' in confronting
the Triple Alliance under German leadership as well as a Franco-
Russian Entente, Lord Salisbury allowed the British Lion to roar
so vehemently that only a few weeks ago war had seemed immi-
nent between Britain and the United States for such a trifling
cause as a disputed boundary between Venezuela and British
Guiana. In the Far East trouble was brewing as a result of Russian
penetration and in the Near East the Armenian Massacres by the
Turks were used by the Russians with French help as a threat to
force the Dardanelles and seize from the *Sick Man of Europe*
his much-coveted capital, Istanbul. The new masters in Whitehall
did not content themselves with the vocal efforts of the British
Lion, but were resolved to regain Britain's former prestige as the

THE UPSET APPLECART

deciding factor in the balance of power in Europe by means of
the plain international language of naval guns. A British squadron
was lying ready outside the Dardanelles.

Much as Salisbury desired to come to terms with Germany, he
was determined not to allow Ms country to become involved in
the Kaiser's mad Machtpolitik* Salisbury gave the Kaiser a lecture
on Britain's unwillingness to have her foreign policy dictated in
the future by the Wilhelmstrasse. He spoke with such forthright-
ness and vehemence that from that August day in 1895 dated the
beginnings of tense relations between die two countries.

The people at the Cape were not very interested in high politics
conducted 6,000 miles away; still less were they interested in the
Kaiser's little intrigues with which they thought, though errone-
ously as they were to learn only a short while afterwards. South
Africa had nothing whatsoever to do.

Among the people who could not join in Cape Town's
general merry-making and enjoy a carefree holiday during the
Christmas season of 1895 was the Cape's Prime Minister, Cecil
Rhodes.

As usual, Rhodes was already up when his boy Toni came to
waken him at day-break. They all knew that the baas had to be
handled carefully in the morning, the time of day when he was
the most irritable. Almost every morning his servant found him
leaning out of the large bay-window looking at the mountain
view. He often wondered whether his master ever slept at all since
he rarely found him an bed. Before dressing, Rhodes would walk
through the house to see that all the windows were wide open.
On his way downstairs he would check the time of each of the
numerous antique grandfather docks. Still in his pyjamas he
would call for one of his secretaries, all young South African men
known as ^Rhodes' Lambs'. Rhodes hated letters, both writing
and receiving them. Important letters were sometimes not
answered for days. Telegrams he answered immediately and often
dictated his reply sitting in his bath. He took a childish pleasure
in having Ms correspondence conducted by telegram or cable, and
the longer they were the more he enjoyed it. Very often, when a
thought struck him, he would call in his secretary, using his
favourite expression: e Come now, let us make a telegram,*

Though Rhodes as the head of the many and krge companies

RHODES OF AFRICA

handled millions, he was extremely careless where his own finan-
cial affairs were concerned. Rarely did he know how much ready
money was at his disposal, and often he would transfer large
amounts before they were due to him. When worried bankers
informed him that there were no funds in his private account he
would think nothing of taking the required sums from De Beers
or Goldfields. Let his co-directors just dare to make difficulties.
. . Were not De Beers, Goldfields, the Chartered Company and
the many large and small dependencies his very own property?

What shares and how many he actually owned no one, least of
all himself, could tell. Some of the shares were entered in the
names of friends, secretaries or employees. His staff found valuable
share certificates crumbled up in the trouser-pockets of discarded
suits, as bookmarks in his library, among private letters in his
desk* His banks were often puzzled when they were presented
with large cheques, bearing Rhodes' signature, written in pencil
on odd pieces of paper.

Sometimes it was still dark when Rhodes set out on his morning
rides. He mostly rode alone, accompanied only by Toni or one of
his secretaries. Often they covered twenty-five tidies; Rhodes always
had a certain destination in mind and his favourite ride was along
the mountain slopes towards the sea. He was mostly silent during
the rides. *I think horse exercise increases the activity of the brain,'
he used to say. He liked small, quiet horses which were easy to
mount. *One doesn't want to spend one's energy and time in
mounting,' he said. The horse had to be a good 'walker' and he
was never seen to trot. His seat was still as bad as in his earlier
days, perhaps even worse, riding as he did with long stirrups and
holding the reins loosely in his hands. He would sit on the horse
as though half asleep. Because of the droll figure which he cut on
horseback the miners in Kimberley had nicknamed him *Jack
Ashore'.

At breakfast, especially at week-ends, there was always open
table at Groote Schuur. Business friends and politicians were told:
'Come out on Sunday and have breakfast with me and we'll go
and see the lions.' On weekdays Rhodes went the six miles to
town by cape-cart and was back for lunch. In the afternoons he
slept till tea-time which he took at five o'clock on the back stoep.
He hated to dine alone, and thus there were always numerous
guests for dinner.

[276]

THE UPSET APPLECART

On Saturday, 28 December 1895, his house was full of guests.
Beit was there and Rutherford Harris, both having recently
returned from London* From Johannesburg there had arrived
Charles Leonard, the President of the National Union, and
Frederic Hamilton, the editor of the Star. *Matabele* Thompson
and Edmund Garrett, the young editor of the Cape Times^ and a
number of others were there for the day.

Everyone remarked on Rhodes* nervousness. Still more obvious
was the excitement of Beit, who was pacing up and down, end-
lessly lighting cigarettes and tossing them away after a few puffs.

The guests noticed that Rhodes did not touch his tea. He
ordered drinks contrary to his habit of not touching liquor until
shortly before dinner* Those who knew him well also knew that
a storm was brewing, since only recently Rhodes had declared:
'Under the stress of worries I have sometimes taken liquor
betwebn meals, but I mean to do so no more/

He called to Leonard and Hamilton: 'Come with me and look
at the hydrangeas!* The three men were seen sitting together on
a bench, and Rhodes' purple face and squeaky voice, which some-
times penetrated through the clear summer air, showed that he
was in a great rage. Charles Leonard, the leader of the Reform
Movement, had left his Johannesburg 10,000 law practice, and
had come down to Cape Town together with Hamilton to discuss
with Rhodes the most recent developments in the pending revolt
which had originally been planned for 28 December. During the
last few days a controversy had arisen among the Reformers about
the flag. It had been understood from the beginning that the rising
would take place under the Transvaal Vierkleur flag. Dr Jameson
had considered this as 'merely talk* in order to bring over many
of the non-British followers. He was convinced that the Union
Jack would be hoisted as a matter of course. Now many Reformers
belonging to other nationalities wanted an assurance from the
Committee that nothing would be changed and that they would
march under the Transvaal flag, since their common aim was
reform and not annexation of the Transvaal by Britain. They
considered the sudden change to the Union Jack a betrayal. The
enthusiasm of most of the conspirators, in as far as they had been
able to become enthusiastic at aU about a revolutionary movement
treated as a business proposition, had faded. Dr Jameson, parti-
cularly, had aroused everyone's suspicions. He had been in

[*77]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Johannesburg shortly before Christmas, and in Ms usual cynical
way had shown so much impatience that many thought of giving
up the plan for die time being and starting afresh later. The big
mine-owners, the financiers and some of the leading executives
who sat on the Reform Committee did not like the predominant
role which Rhodes and his friends had usurped. True enough, he
and Beit had contributed lavish sums. But so had they and others.
It was easy for Rhodes to talk sitting snugly at Groote Schuur,
whereas they would have to risk thek necks. President Kruger
had warned, in one of Ms ktest speeches; *. . . Before one can
kill a tortoise, it must put its head out/ The hint had not fallen on
deaf ears. Should they risk their lives to pull the chestnuts out of the
fire for Rhodes so that he might become master of the Transvaal?

Rhodes* mistake ky in leaving the execution of the planned
revolution to those of Ms subordinates who were the least suited
for the job men like the three doctors, Jameson, Harris and a
recent addition to Ms collection of medical handymen, a Dr Wolff
from Kimberley, and especially Ms elder brother, Colonel Frank
Rhodes. TMs gallant and amiable cavalry officer had no experi-
ence whatsoever in handling civilians, still less in dealing with
millionaires playing at conspirators. Cecil Rhodes had installed
the colonel nominally as Ms representative at Goldfields, but
actually to manage the Reform Movement for Mm. Frank had
unreserved faith in Ms brother, but others had little trust in Cecil
Rhodes. Rhodes' unpopularity was fanned by Ms old enemy Sir
J. B. Robinson, *the Buccaneer'. Though Robinson had accepted a
baronetcy from Ms Queen, he had become a staunch propagandist
of Krugerism. It paid good dividends for Ms own extensive
interests on the Rand and it gave Mm a better opportunity to lash
out at Rhodes.

On one point Robinson's opinion was shared by all clear-
headed men on the Rand* Lately they had been asking whether
the whole Reform Movement had not beei> instigated principally
for the benefit of a few mine magnates and a handful of specula-
tors, or perhaps only for the advantage of British imperialism
represented by Cecil Rhodes. Actually, the great mass of miners
had hardly anything to complain about. It made little difference
to them whether they were being exploited under the Vierkkur
flag or the Union Jack. Working conditions were not ideal, but
they were paid good wages.

Paul Kruger and his wife. A photograph taken during the
South African War

Olive Schreiner

Princess RacMwill

THE UPSET APPLECART

Lionel Phillips, Beit's junior partner, had hit the nail on the head
when he told Rhodes and Beit: "... as to the franchise I do not
think many people care a fig about it 3 . The recently amended
Transvaal Naturalixation Law compared well with the laws of
other countries and was, in fact, more liberal than the British one.

Rhodes, before 1894, had never expressed a word of sympathy
for the Uitlanders. He was too much of a realist to imagine that
he could supply the Rand miners with enthusiasm for the coming
revolution with the same ease as he had supplied them with rifles
and ammunition. Enthusiasm, there was no doubt about it, was
sadly lacking even among the staunchest British patriots. Among
the workmen a revolution managed by 'bloody capitalists 5 ' natur-
ally aroused their suspicions. All that they could expect was that
President Kruger would be replaced by President Rhodes. How-
ever, they tried to make the best of it. Various 'Rifle dubs* had
been formed where men were drilled in the evenings. Attendance
was paid out of Rhodes* funds at the rate of i per drill.

So little did the leading conspirators understand the men and
conditions with which they would have to deal that they fixed the
date for the revolution for the December week when the greatest
races of the year took place in Johannesburg. Yet even without
the races they would not have succeeded in moving many
Uitlanders to fight. When rumours went through the town that
zero-hour ^vas near there was a complete rout. A rush for the
trains to the Cape and Natal began. Ugly scenes took place when
thousands rushed the trains, climbing through windows and
hanging on to footboards. Many well-known figures left in
disguise. It was a general same qm pent in the hour of danger.

Though a number of men looked forward to the *fun* provided
by a 'little revolution* and there were others in whom still
blossomed a spirit of revenge ('Remember Majuba*), there was
no doub't in the minds of the impartial that the only people really
interested in an uprising of the Uitlanders were Rhodes, Beit and
a handful of other mine magnates. Even men near the Rhodes
group were aware of the true position and objected to the rising.

Rhodes did not care. He dragged them into it, one and all.
Even the question of the franchise of the Uitlanders was only a
pretext for him: 1 do not like the idea of British subjects becoming
burghers, and that is why I prefer that burghers should become
British subjects. . . / Politics had always served Rhodes as an

[*79J

RHODES OF AFRICA

Instrument for his financial interests. This time, too, his grievances
against the Transvaal were of a purely economic nature and all
political differences were artificially exaggerated in order to
camouflage the real issue. The Chamber of Mines, under Rhodes*
direction, had complained about the gold-mining laws of the
Transvaal though they were lenient in comparison with those of
most other states. Taxation of the mines in the Transvaal, another
complaint, amounted to only 5 per cent on the profits and was
actually only rarely enforced. Rhodes himself, in Rhodesia, had
fixed the tax at 50 per cent. One of the main grievances was
Kruger's refusal to allow the mines to cage the Natives in com-
pounds on the Kimberley system. The mine-lords complained
that 10 per cent of the gold was stolen by the Natives, which
was in fact more than improbable.

For years the mine-owners had been trying to induce the
Transvaal to give them title-deeds to their mines. According to
Transvaal law private landed property had never been recognised
by the State, and this constitutional principle referred not only
to mines but also to all knd in town and country. Only leases for
ninety-nine years were given. All minerals were considered
national property, and the Government granted only mining
rights.

The main attacks against the Pretoria Government by the
Rand lords were directed at a dynamite monopoly held by Beit's
cousins, the brothers Lippert, who made an enormous profit out
of it. The total cost to the mining industry of this dynamite
monopoly amounted to 600,000 a year, which worked out at
not even a minimal fraction of I per cent of their working costs
and almost nothing of their profits. In later years under British
rule, the dynamite monopoly was acquired by De Beers, which
still possesses it to this day, protected by heavy duty and rail
tariffs.

These demands were made issues of great importance by an
industry which in the case of bona fide companies paid yearly
dividends of 30 to 60 per cent and could afford to provide each
of their directors with a bonus of 200,000 to 400,000 a year.
They could not seriously maintain that their existence depended
on these questions.

All this could and would have been settled by negotiations
with the Transvaal Government, and during the last few months

[280]

THE UPSET APPLECART

there had been very promising signs of a friendly understanding.
The conspirators, however, were afraid of any amicable settle-
ment of the differences between the Uitlanders and Kruger that
would deprive them of the chance to take action. In order not to
be forestalled by Kruger, as in the affair of the dosing of the drifts,
the revolution would have to take place soon,

Many sober-minded people in Johannesburg refused to allow
Rhodes to lead them by the nose. Among them were several of
the big mine-owners, men like Abe Bailey and especially Barney
Barnato. It seemed strange that Barnato, *that cunning little Jew*,
had to preach to those dyed-in-the-wool Jingoes, who had always
looked down on him as *more or less a foreigner*, what allegiance
to the Queen and to the country of his birth, and what pride in
one's British nationality really signified. He, like every decent
Britisher, would never barter his British nationality for financial
advantages. He vehemently declined to join the Reform Com-
mittee and was seriously upset when he learnt that his junior
partner, his nephew S. B. Joel, had become a member.

As the date originally fixed for the revolution drew nearer
many of the conspirators in Johannesburg began to get cold feet.
With Dr Jameson's permanent coaxing and Dr Rutherford
Harris' drunken jabbering, they began to shudder at the thought
of having placed the fate of a town, the lives of thousands of
human beings, the future of a valuable industry and the destiny
of a country, perhaps of a continent, in the hands of these two
men whose unreliability needed no further proof.

It had been arranged that Dr Jameson should set out from
Pitsani on 28 December, when the rising in Johannesburg was to
take place, and march his column to their aid. Now, with arms as
yet insufficient, with thousands of men running away and with the
flag question not yet settled, the leaders in Johannesburg decided
to postpone the date for at least ten days, if not longer. The chief
leader, Charles Leonard, after having signed a fulminating mani-
festo calling a mass-meeting for 6 January, left Johannesburg for
Cape Town on Christmas Day, in order, as he said, to confer with
Rhodes. In Johannesburg, however, people said openly that he
had chosen the better part of valour by running away.

There now began a frantic exchange of telegrams between the
Reform Committee and Dr Jameson, who was pulling madly at
the leash on the border. All their telegraphic correspondence was

[281]

RHODES OF AFRICA

conducted in code, not a private code but In one of the popular
commercial codes available in every book" store. Only the names
and special references were expressed in special secret words. It
was symptomatic of the mentality of these merchant-adventurers
that they chose as code-words for thek revolution terms borrowed
from company promoting such as 'flotation*, 'shareholders* meet-
ing* and ^diamonds'. Dr Jameson's troops became 'foreign
subscribers'.

Still, on 23 December, Harris sent a wire to Dr Jameson,
reading (decoded):

Company -will be floated next Saturday [28 December] iz o'clock
at night; they are anxious you must not start before 8 o'clock and
secure telegraph office silence. We suspect Transvaal is getting
aware slightly.

At the same time Dr Harris, who had been given the appropriate
code-name of 'Cactus*, tried to goad on the Johannesburg cold-
footed revolutionaries:

Dr Jameson says he cannot give extension of refusal for flotation
beyond December, as Transvaal Boers opposition shareholders hold
meeting on Limpopo. . . .

Colonel Frank Rhodes, however, was too experienced a soldier
to imagine that action could be taken when the leaders had
become lukewarm; the chief leader had preferred to seek security
in Cape Town, and what was left of the rank and file was at the
races. He wired to Cape Town, withthe consent of the Committee,
on 26 December:

It is absolutely necessary to postpone flotation. Charles Leonard
left last night for Cape Town.

Dr Jameson's brother, who held an executive position in
Goldfields and was one of the leading conspirators, telegraphed
Ms brother simultaneously via Cape Town:

It is absolutely necessary to postpone flotation through unforeseen
circumstances here altogether unexpected, and until we have C. J.
Rhodes* absolute pledge that authority of Imperial Government will
not be insisted on [refers to the Union Jack]. . . .

[18*]

THE UPSET APPLECART

To this message, when forwarding It to Pitsani, Rutherford
Harris added:

Charles Leonard will therefore arrive Cape Town Saturday
morning; so you must not move until yon hear from us again. Too
awful, Very sorry.

The conspirators, knowing Dr Jameson's impatience and
obstinacy, did not want to leave the matter of stopping him to
a few telegrams which, he could deny having received. They
therefore dispatched two messengers to Pitsani,, Captain Holden
and Major Heany; and so as to be doubly sure, the one was sent
by rail and the other by road.

In spite of all wires from Rhodes, Frank Rhodes, Harris, the
whole Reform Committee and individual members, Dr Jameson
clearly did not want to wait.

On Friday, 27 December at three o'clock, he wired to Harris
that his troops had gone forward, but that he would try to stop
them and that he expected telegraphic authorization the next
morning to proceed. Two hours later he threatened that if the
Johannesburgers *do not we will make our own flotation*. After
receiving the Johannesburg wires he discovered that the real
cause for the delay lay in the fact that his co-conspirators in
Johannesburg had succumbed to an attack of mortal funk. In his
rage he sent Colonel Rhodes the scornful message:

Grave suspicion has been aroused. Surely, in your estimation, do
you consider that races is of the utmost importance compared to
immense risks of discovery, daily expected by which under these
circumstances it will be necessary to act prematurely? Let J. H.
Hammond inform weak partners [the] more delay [the] more danger.
Dr Wolff will explain fully reasons to anticipate rather than postpone
action. Do all you can to hasten the completion of works.

There followed a telegraphic bombardment of Dr Jameson
from Cape Town and from Johannesburg to stop him and make
him wait for Major Heany, who was due to arrive on a special
train. Even Rutherford Harris sobered up sufficiently to see the
disaster which a rash action by Jameson would bring about. He

RHODES OF AFRICA

tried to pacify him by a wire sent on the morning of Saturday,
the z8th:

You are quite right with regard to the cause of delay of flotation,
but Ch. Leonard and Hamilton of Star, inform us movement not
popular in Johannesburg; when you have seen Major Heany, let
us know by wire what he says; we cannot have fiasco.

*No, we must not risk a fyasco , we mustn't risk a

fiasco , no fy-asco,' Rhodes said over and over again as he

walked up and down the path between the hydrangeas.

Rhodes had always preached: 'If you cannot manage a thing
one way, try another!* And thus he now told the two Reform
envoys with a shrug of the shoulders: * Another time!' and he
recommended them half-heartedly to *go on quietly'. The envoys,
obviously greatly relieved, echoed: 'Another time*, and were
starting to speak about a 'new programme* when Rhodes left
them abruptly. By his flushed face one could see his contempt for
those 'mugwumps', as he called them, who at every opportunity
waved the Union Jack and shouted themselves hoarse with Jingo
phrases, until it came to action,

Rhodes went into the house, took 'Little Beit' aside and told
him about the 'biggest game of bluff that was ever played'. In the
meantime the Imperial Secretary, Sir Graham Bower, for whom
he had sent, had arrived and Rhodes told him:

'You will be glad to hear that the revolution at Johannesburg
has fizzled out like a damp squib.' Rhodes took him into the
garden and unburdened his heart, telling him, much to Bower's
surprise, that he had financed and organized the revolution. He
ended with a sigh:

'Well, I am still a rich man, and can spend the balance of my
money in developing the North.*

Dr Rutherford Harris was having a late breakfast at Three
Anchor Bay, a suburb of Cape Town, when he heard the Sunday
morning quietness disturbed by the noise of rapidly trotting
horses. While the cab was still moving, out jumped Stevens, the
clerk of the local office of the Chartered Company. When he had
arrived for duty he had found two urgent telegrams from Pitsani
which he had quickly decoded and because of their importance

[284]

THE UPSET APPLECART

tie had brought them out to Harris Immediately. Harris hurried
to Groote Schuur.

Lunch had just been served. When they saw his pale face and
were told that two telegrams had arrived from Dr Jameson,
Rhodes, Beit, Leonard and Thompson got up immediately and
left together with Dr Harris for the privacy of Rhodes* bedroom.
The one telegram was dated Saturday 28 at 5 p.m. and said that
*. . . unless I hear definitely to the contrary, shall leave tomorrow
evening , . .* Without waiting for a reply Jameson had sent
another telegram to Cape Town on Sunday morning at nine
o'clock announcing: 'Shall leave tonight for the Transvaal/

Rhodes sat on the edge of his bed. His face turned ashen and
seemed suddenly haggard. After a long pause he jumped up and
began to pace up and down the small room, repeating over and
over again: 'Now just be cooL Let's think this thing out. Now

just be cool. Let's think this * After a while he stopped his

pacing. Turning to Thompson, he said: *Look, Thompson, look
what that damn fool Jameson has donet Why did he do it? Tell
me, Thompson, why did he do it?' His voice cracked and again
and again he shrieked: c Why did he do it? Why? . . .'

Beit sat shrunken into himself and appeared smaller than ever.
He tore vehemently at his moustache, his other hand holding
tightly a bottle of headache tablets from which he took one from
time to time.

It took several hours until Rhodes had made up his mind. In
the afternoon he wired to Pitsani:

Heartily reciprocate your wishes with regard to Protectorate, but
the Colonial Office machinery moves slowly, as you know. We are,
however, doing our utmost to get immediate transference of what
we are justly entitled to. Things in Johannesburg I yet hope to see
amicably settled, and a little patience and common sense is only
necessary. On no account whatever must you move. I strongly
object to such a course.

Unfortunately the line to Pitsani was dead. The telegram never
left the Cape Town post office. To the meaning of the first two
sentences no clue has ever been found. Rhodes, though he could
have used this message to prove that he had made every effort up
to the last minute to stop Dr Jameson and thus exonerate himself
from the blame of having been largely instrumental in the

RHODES OF AFRICA

Jameson Raid, never ad so because he ad not want Ms friend
to bear the whole brunt of accusation. This noble and unselfish
attitude of Rhodes' showed throughout the whole affair, the only
pleasant and agreeable feature in a cobweb of intrigues, lies,
perjuries and blackmail.

Towards evening Schreiner, the Attorney-General in Rhodes'
Cabinet, came to see Rhodes. Like his other colleagues Schreiner,
a staunch friend, an almost loving admirer and a devoted foEower,
knew nothing of Rhodes' association with the Johannesburg
conspiracy. But having heard rumours, he thought it best to tax
Rhodes with it arectly. He saw him only for a few minutes.
Schreiner asked: 'Have you seen Charlie Leonard?'

"Yes/ replied Rhodes, trying to sound nonchalant, *I have seen

him/

Tor goodness' sake/ Schreiner said, and put great emphasis on
his words to express his serious concern, *keep yourself clear from
that entanglement at Johannesburg. If there is any asturbance,
they are sure to try and mix you up with it.*

Rhodes shrugged his shoulders and stood up, saying: 'Oh!
That's all rightl That's all right all right. Good nightt 7

At eleven o'clock on Sunday night the Imperial Secretary,
Sir Graham Bower, was asturbed in his slumbers by Rhodes*
servant with a message that his master was anxious to speak to
him at once. Bower was amazed to find Rhodes a crushed man,
who told him: "Jameson has gone into the Transvaal. Here is a

telegram IVe sent to stop him, and it may yet come all right

I'll resign tomorrow, but I know what this means. It means war.
I'm a ruined man, but there must be no recriminations. I will take
the blame/

No one found much sleep that night.

While the people in Cape Town were enjoying themselves on
the beaches to escape the heat of the day the churches in Johannes-
burg were overcrowded. And while from a pulpit a clergyman
was advocating the Uitknder cause by fulminating against bluster
and funk, 180 miles away an abhorrent act against international
law, against human rights and common sense was being committed.

The Honourable Leander Starr Jameson, M.D., Companion of
the Most Honourable Order of the Bath and Administrator of
Rhodesia, was very bored in the camp at Pitsani. One could not

[286]

THE UPSET APPLECART

play poker all day long. The company around Mm got on Ms
nerves: these young officers could talk of nothing but women,
racing and society gossip.

In his boredom he began to 'read. When he had returned from
his skirmish with the Portuguese in Manicaland many people
flattered him by comparing him with dive. He took Macauky*s
Life of C/m out of his kit and began to fly through the pages,
Since his 'filibustering expedition*, as his invasion of Manicaland
had been called in Parliament, and his extermination of the
Matabele impis by machine-guns, Rhodes had considered him*
and he had been inclined to agree, as a military genius of the rank
of a Marlborough, Wellington, Napoleon or Moltke. Macaulay
now confirmed to him that the comparison between him and
dive had been well chosen. Suddenly he banged his fists on the
table and to the astonishment of his companions he almost shouted:

* Well, you may say what you like, but Clive would have done It.*

He also remembered what Rhodes had once told a young
officer in Uganda whom he reproached for having followed
instructions too closely:

*You cannot expect a Prime Minister to write down that you
are to seize ports, etc. But, when he gives you orders to the
contrary, disobey them/

He thought that he now understood Rhodes' orders not to
move. He assembled his men on parade at 3 p.m. and told them
that although he could not force them to go with him to the aid
of Johannesburg he expected them to come as volunteers. He
took from his pocket a letter dated 20 December and signed by
members of the Reform Committee which told of the critical
situation in Johannesburg:

. . . Not to go into detail, we may say that the Government has
called into existence all the elements necessary for armed conflict. . . .

What we have to consider is, what will be the condition of things
here in the event of conflict?

Thousands of unarmed men, women and children of our race will

be at the mercy of well-armed Boers We cannot contemplate the

future without the gravest apprehension. . . *

It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call
upon you to come to our aid , . . and we cannot but believe that
you, and the men under you, will not fail to come to the rescue of
people who would be so situated. . . ,

RHODES OF AFRICA

At first Dr Jameson's appeal had only a lukewarm reception,
but when he read the passage about the plight of thousands of
women and children there was a stir among the soldiers. None of
these simple mercenaries could have guessed that the use of the
'Letter of Invitation* was a bluff. This letter had been written
several weeks before as a draft by Charles Leonard to be sent to
Dr Jameson as soon as the revolution began* When the con-
spiracy was postponed or rather had 'fizzled out like a damp
squib', Leonard had asked Dr Jameson to return the letter.
Casually Jameson had replied: 'Oh 5 that letter. Why? Awfully
sorry, old man, but it has gone down to Cape Town by the last
train/

Now, on this Saturday afternoon, Jameson had forged the date
to read 20 December.

Similarly he deceived his officers. He had told them in private
conversations that the expedition was 'in the service of the
Queen*, that the whole scheme was known to and approved of
by the authorities and that especially 'Chamberlain was in it up
to the neck'. Those officers who were still in doubt about the
legality of the expedition were soothed by Jameson and the rest
with the words: 'Never mind, you won't be left!' with a wink
which was meant as a reference to Rhodes.

At five o'clock Dr Jameson sent the previously mentioned tele-
gram that he was leaving 'unless he heard definitely to the contrary'.

The canteens were opened for free drinks and towards evening
everyone was in a more or less alcoholic state. When Dr Jameson
gave orders for the telegraph wires to be cut ('secure Telegraph
Office silence') some of his men were so drunk that they cut
instead about 100 yards of barbed-wire fencing, as a result of
which the line to Pretoria was not interrupted. Thus it happened
that the Transvaal Government knew about the events at Pitsani
earlier than did the High Commissioner in Cape Town.

On Monday morning, 30 December at 5.30, Dr Jameson
crossed the Transvaal border with only 512 mounted men
instead of the 1,500 promised to the Reformers 30 pack-horses,
8 machine-guns, i twelve^and-a-half-pounder and z seven-
pounders, all under the military command of the old filibuster, Sir
John Willoughby. One invalided officer accompanied the column
in a dog-cart as he 'wanted not to miss the fun*. Among the
troopers, apart from the well-trained former Bechuanaland Police

[288]

THE UPSET APPLECART

volunteers,, were many most unmilitary characters picked up by
Dr Harris in Cape Town, men who had never so much as sat on
a horse or handled a gun. Unaccustomed to drinks like cham-
pagne, whisky and liqueur, many fell from thek horses and quite
a number deserted. On the road from Pitsani to the Transvaal
there were found the next day rifles,, ammunition, haversacks,
bandoliers and even saddles.

The next day Major Heany, bringing Rhodes* message to stop
Jameson, caught up with the raiders. Jameson walked up and
down for about twenty minutes. When he returned the following
dialogue took place:

'I am going! 3

"Thought you would/

* And what are you going to do?'

'Going with you/

'Thought you would/

Jameson was the only one in 'civvies', wearing a 'teraf hat with
a dented crown and a light-fawn dust-coat. He must have felt
more like Napoleon than Clive, perhaps even like Caesar crossing
the Rubicon and sighing: 'The die is cast/ But it seems more
probable that Jameson did not think at all. Habitual gamblers for
high stakes never think of consequences.

Jameson's self-aggrandisement had deteriorated into an amoral,
anarchistic, superman consciousness. 'The ten Commandments
are out of date!' he once told Stead, And another time:

'Why morals or religion should have anything to say in political
questions I fail to see. . . . What difference can it make in a man
as a legislator what his morals are if he has genius and intellect
and can use them?*

Unfortunately Dr Jameson believed himself to be a man of
genius and was determined to use it 'in the public interest of his
country' for the 'Caesarian Operation* he was about to perform.

On Monday, 30 December, Rhodes was up early and left the
house on horseback, accompanied by Toni. Messengers were sent
out and many callers came, but he was nowhere to be found.
Bower, Schreiner, Hofmeyr and especially Sir Hercules Robinson
were anxious to see him. Rhodes avoided them purposely. He
was waiting for further developments: perhaps that Jameson had
been stopped in the meanwhile; perhaps that the fire of revolution

RHODES OF AFRICA

had been relit la Johannesburg; or perhaps that the Imperial
Factor* would step In and come to the aid of the Ultianders? He
wanted to gain time.

A formal letter from Bower was left in his house:

I have called several times at your office this morning for the
purpose of conveying to you His Excellency's instructions for the

immediate recall of Dr Jameson. . . ,

to which Rhodes scribbled a very informal reply:

My dear Bower,

Jameson has gone in without my authority, I hope one message
may have stopped him. I am sorry to have missed you.

Something had to be done. By now Jameson's invasion of the
Transvaal would have become public knowledge, even if he had
been stopped. Too much was at stake: the Charter, the Goldfields,
his Premiership, his P.C., his fortune, his future and the future
of his Mreams'. Something had to be done.

Schreiner, the most faithful of his followers, had called several
times while Rhodes was hiding in the mountains. He had at first
been unwilling to believe the reports from the local police. He
had wired back asking for confirmation of the 'agitated telegram'.
To his consternation he had to accept the fact that Dr Jameson
had indeed committed this outrage and that probably Rhodes. . . .
So strong was still his belief in Rhodes that he could not imagine
that Rhodes, his friend Rhodes, could have committed such perfidy.

Late at night Rhodes asked Schreiner to come and see him.
When Schreinei: entered the library Rhodes, his hair dishevelled,
his eyes bloodshot, his face greyish-green and haggard, was
staring into space. Schreiner knew that here was *a man he had
never seen before: utterly dejected and different in appearance
. * absolutely broken down in spirit, ruined*.

Without any introduction Rhodes cried out:

*Yes, yes, it is true yes, yes, it's true it's true: old Jameson

has upset my applecart. It is all true Poor old Jameson.

Twenty years we have been friends, and now he goes in and ruins

me. I cannot hinder him. I cannot go and destroy him Go

and write out your resignation Go, I know you will/

Schreiner replied: 'It is not a question of my writing out my
resignation/

[290]

THE UPSET APPLECART

For many hoots the two men talked. As Schreitier walked over
the lawns and saw In the moonlight the majestic buttresses of
Table Mountain he remembered a scene on the stoep of Groote
Schuur when Rhodes had said, pointing to the mountain:

*In a few years you and I will be gone > and other little ants will
be running about the foot of the mountain. If you think of that
you can't worry/

Now the great man, the 'Colossus', was broken down

Schreiner stopped. A thought, a sudden ugly and terrible suspi-
cion struck him* He wanted to suppress it. What if Rhodes was

only acting a part? No, he was really broken down, and he

was not the man to play that part If he did, he was the best

actor

And Schreiner in that hour felt 'what hundreds of people are
feeling in South Africa today; they have lost their leader. Yes,
they have lost him absolutely, a leader who cemented around him
such loyalty and devotion. . . /

Will Schreiner, a lovable character highly intelligent, a great
scholar, a splendid lawyer, an honest and captivating parliamen-
tarian was of German parentage. He possessed a romantic sense
which even the dryness of Roman Law, the sobering atmosphere
of Cambridge's stuffy lecture-rooms or the freezing traditionalism
of London's Inns of Court had been unable to kill, and he needed
a man like Rhodes *a man of action* to develop his paradoxical
endowments. He loved Rhodes; he admired him; he acknowledged
his superiority.

And Rhodes, unsentimental in spite of Ms occasional romanti-
cism, recognized the value of, and also felt flattered by, the
younger man's devotional admiration. Schreiner could not be
bought: 'the obstinate fellow*, Rhodes had called him when he
insisted on paying his own election expenses.

Rhodes had pkyed on Schreiner's sentiments with great
virtuosity, knowing that the only way he could 'square* 'the
obstinate fellow* was by affection. Just a year before, after
Rhodes* nomination as P.C, he had written to Schreiner:

I am just going up the Acropolis. I wished to say to you, how
pleased I am we have come together and are at last getting to know
one another. We may do much if we do not weary of each other and
the work. Do not think this claptrap; it comes from my innermost
thought. Read and tear up.

RHODES OF AFRICA

With a man of Rhodes* unsentimental make-up this letter, a
unique product of his pen, should be taken as almost a declaration
of love. Rhodes' affection for Schreiner was sincere. That very
Sunday, in the afternoon when he still denied his implication in
the Johannesburg conspiracy, Rhodes had written to Schreiner's
mother in Grahamstown:

My dear Madam, Your son says you would like to have my
photograph. It is pleasant to think you have a thought for me.
I send it you and ask you to remember that I have tried always to
do my best for the country of my adoption. The future has trouble
in store but time will right everything, for it is only time that tells
the truth. You wonder why I write you so openly. The reason is
that I am very fond of your son. He is to me the most straightforward
and honourable man that I have ever met and I know he must owe
a great deal to his Mother. Put my letter away and do not let him
know how I have written, but the words will be pleasant to you as
his Mother and they are from my heart. . . .

Schreiner's heart was sore when he found in the soul of his
friend instead of the expected gold nothing but sham. He had
lost more than a friend. As a result of the perfidy of this man he
saw smashed to pieces the cherished dream of racial peace, the
hope of a united South Africa, the vision of Africa's golden
future.

Another old friend, Merriman, also turned his back on Rhodes
in disgust, though he had himself been in sympathy with the
Reform Movement. 'The Raid*, Merriman said later, *was not
only wrong in its inception, but it is the deceit and treachery
which accompanied it that I object to; and the Raid has put
Mr Kruger into his old position and rehabilitated him in the
civilized world: that is the pity of it, and for that we have to
thank Mr Rhodes ... I do say, Mr Rhodes is unworthy of the
trust of the country!'

Even Rhodes* faithful mouthpiece, young Garrett of the Cape
Times, was shocked. The 'Colossus', with a forced smile, tried
to joke:

'Well, there is a little history being made; that is all/

The last day of the year, Tuesday, 31 December, also saw
Rhodes* separation from another friend. As on the previous day,
Rhodes had hidden from the world in order to avoid being forced

THE UPSET APPLECART

into action. To win time was all he wanted so as to give Dr
Jameson a chance to fi finish his job 5 . For that reason, too, he did
not resign. As long as he was still Prime Minister he might be
able to help lift Ms upset 'applecart*. Until the very last minute
Rhodes hoped for Jameson's success.

In the morning a Cabinet meeting was held. After about forty-
five minutes of discussing current affairs, Rhodes left so that *the
others may talk freely 5 . The Ministers agreed that they would
have to hand in their resignation to Rhodes. Schreiner declared
that he would leave the Ministry the minute blood was shed.

Bower came into Schreiner's room to obtain the Cabinet's
consent for a proclamation to the inhabitants of Johannesburg
by which the High Commissioner, on behalf of the British
Government, repudiated Dr Jameson's action. It had been
suggested and drafted by Hofmeyr.

This proclamation, as was kter proved, at least averted civil
war in the Transvaal and a consequent war between Britain and
the Boers. Unfortunately its effect was weakened by Garrett, who
had helped in editing the final text. Before the proclamation was
published in Johannesburg he wired to his colleague on the
Johannesburg Star not to misunderstand this official pronounce-
ment 'putting Jameson formally in the wrong*, as the Imperial
authorities had no other way out. He ended with the wish and
the hope: 'Don't let this weaken ot divide you/ As a result, the
Reformers in Johannesburg assumed that the British Government
really approved of Dr Jameson's march into the Transvaal and
pretended only officially to be against it.

All these events came as a bolt out of the blue to Hofmeyr. He
expected Rhodes not only to resign but to repudiate openly and
clearly Dr Jameson's action. Rhodes' immediate resignation or
dismissal had also been expected in Pretoria. The mood of men
in high positions was expressed in a telegram to Hofmeyr from
a judge:

Has the moment not arrived for High Commissioner to dismiss
Rhodes and keep him in custody, so as to prevent more mischief
in Chartered Company?

Hofmeyr, when he learnt of the Raid, had telegraphed to
Kruger: *I hope your burghers will acquit themselves like heroes
against Jameson's filibusters.*

RHODES OF AFRICA

This telegram proclaimed to Kmger as well as to the British
authorities the definite identification of Hofmeyr and the Bond
with Kruger's defence of his rights, his condemnation of Jameson
and the severance of political co-operation between the Afrikaners
of the Cape and Rhodes. Hofmeyr felt that Rhodes* and Jameson's
folly 'threw back the cause of civilization in South Africa for 25
years'. His first words on hearing the news were: *If Rhodes is
behind it, then he is no more a friend of mine/

Now, on Tuesday afternoon, he had to settle the final account
with his former friend. They met in Bower's room in Government
House. Hofmeyr began the interview:

*You will not pretend to me that you have mixed yourself up
with this outrage from an overwhelming sympathy with the poor,
down-trodden working men who are now drawing big wages on
the Rand?'

Rhodes, not accustomed to such sarcasm, least of all from
Hofmeyr, replied, downcast:

*No, I shall not pretend/

Rhodes declared that he would resign, to which Hofmeyr
replied:

'Rhodes, mere resignation will not clear you. . . . Issue a
proclamation or manifesto as fast as it can be printed, repudiating
Jameson's move, instantly dismissing or suspending him as
Administrator of Rhodesia, and providing that the criminal law
will be enforced to the utmost against him.'

'It's making an outlaw of the doctor making an outlaw of

the doctor Well, you see, Jameson has been such an old

friend such an old friend Of course, I cannot do it cannot

do it cannot do it/

Hofmeyr replied very softly:

'Quite, quite I understand r- That's quite enough You

need say no more/

Hofmeyr was a sick man, suffering from a weak heart. His
nerves were frayed by the excitement. And he really loved
Rhodes. He turned away and busied himself with cleaning his
eye-glasses. Turi|ing again towards Rhodes, he said:

*I could explain better if you had ever been married. I have not
yet forgotten the relation of perfect trust and intimacy which a
man has with his wife. We have often disagreed, you and I, but
I would not have thought of our distrusting each other in any

[294]

THE UPSET APPLECART

joint undertaking. So it was till now; and now you have let me go
on being apparently intimate while you knew that this was
preparing and said nothing/

And so they parted. Returning home in his carriage, Rhodes
told Dr Harris about the conversation. So as to conceal how
deeply he had been touched, he joked in his usual way: *And
you'll see how old Hofmeyr will slobber at my funeral slobber

at my funeral slobber * Even stupid Dr Harris looked at

his chief in consternation when the usual shrill staccato chuckling
started and would not stop. Almost suffocating, Rhodes tried to

repeat between shouts of laughter: 'Slobber at my funeral *

When he had recovered from this hysterical attack he said: *I am
no longer pulled two ways; Jameson has decided me/

Hofmeyr, sitting on his stoep that evening, was still quieter than
usual* When he told some friends about the interview he ended
by saving:

*I had the feeling as if my wife had deceived me with my
best friend. . , . Rhodes imagines himself a young king, the equal
of the Almighty perhaps a Clive and Warren Hastings rolled
into oneP

[93]

CHAPTER XV

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

MR. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, Her Majesty's Secretary of
State for the Colonies, stood in front of a large mirror in
the dressing-room of his house, Highbury. He always spent con-
siderable time over his toilet. In public he appeared mostly in
formal morning-coat and striped trousers, and invariably with
an exquisite specimen of an orchid in his buttonhole. Europe's
largest and most expensive collection of orchids was reared in
his hot-houses at Highbury, the upkeep of which and the purchase
of ever new additions from aU parts of the tropical world
swallowed, it was said, an amount exceeding his ministerial
salary.

Chamberlain never forgot a slight, least of all when it touched
his craze for orchids. Gossip-mongers' had taken delight in
reporting to him Rhodes* frequent squib:

'Some people spend their time in growing orchids, others spend
their time in making empires/

It was also reported to Chamberlain that Kruger, when shown
a picture of him with his monocle in his eye and a large orchid in
his buttonhole, had shaken his head and said:

'What foolishness for a man to give so much money for so
small a thing! And then he can only see half of that for he has
only one eyel'

These remarks contributed towards Chamberlain's dislike of
the two men, yet both of them were to become instrumental in
the fulfilment of his dreams of a lifetime: to make the world feel
the power of Joseph Chamberlain from Birmingham*

Chamberlain had never shown scruples in choosing the means
towards his goal. He was as unscrupulous in his political life as
he had been in his business methods, changing sides whenever it
seemed opportune and sacrificing his greatest friends. Labouchere,
who had once been his friend, said of him: ' Judas compared with
Chamberlain was a most respectable character.' The nickname
'Judas' remained with him.

[296]

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

By June 18955 when Lord Salisbury had offered him a seat In
his Cabinet, the "Birmingham Ironmonger* had become a con-
siderable factor in Tory politics. Forgotten was Ms revolutionary,
his Radical, his Liberal, his Free Trade and his 'Little Bnglander*
past, * Judas' had become jWkr royal qm k rot.

The time was ripe for a man of Chamberlain y s uncompromising
chauvinism and imperialism. A tidal wave of Jingoism at the
last elections had drowned the old Liberal thought and had
almost swept the Liberal Party out of existence. The mind of
the English public was no longer open to reason. They now had
new prophets who would bring them salvation: Cecil Rhodes,
Barney Barnato and Whitaker Wright; J. B. Robinson, Abey
Bailey and Alfred Beit. Devoutly they looked towards the Stock
Exchange,

Politicians were astonished at Chamberlain's appointment
as Colonial Secretary. He had been offered the War Office,
but insisted on taking over the Colonial portfolio because
he foresaw that it would have to become the centre of gravity
in Britain's foreign policy. Chamberlain became the driving
force of English politics. From the Colonial Office he set out
to open up a new era of British Weltpolitik. In his electioneering
speeches he had made it clear that his imperialism was not
restricted to empty phrases, and that in Africa particularly
Britain would brook no attempts to dispute her superior
position.

The Liberals feared the worst: a renegade from their own ranks,
he was; a man who only eleven years ago had fought tooth and
nail against the annexation of the Transvaal, And an apostate,
history had taught them, will go to any length to make people
forget his past.

Rhodes received the news of Chamberlain's appointment *with
horror*. For Rhodes, Chamberlain signified the incarnation of the
Imperial Factor*. And Chamberlain would not be as easy to
handle as had been his noble predecessors.

Rhodes opened the relations with a formal letter:

I am glad you have taken the Colonial Office even if you differ
with me as to my part of the world. I know full well you will always
come to a decision and before your assumption of office the difficulty
was to get anything decided whether yes or no. . . .

[*97]

RHOBES OF AFRICA

Chambcrkin answered in cool tones with a few generalities:

... As far as I understand your main Mnes of policy I believe that
I am in general agreement with you, and if we ever differ on points
of detail I hope as sensible men of business we shall be able to give
and take* and so come to an understanding. . . .

In actual fact each man was afraid of the other. Chamberlain
realized that if he wanted to succeed in his policy in Africa he
would have to co-operate with Rhodes, the 'uncrowned Emperor
of South Africa'. Rhodes was not only a very considerable politi-
cal factor in African politics, but, as- a result of his financial and
social infiltration into all parties and even into the highest circles
at home, he would be able to make his weight felt in the British
Parliament.

It took a man of Chamberlain's political instinct only a few
weeks to be transformed from a bombastic demagogue into a
creative statesman. He transferred his turbulent ambitions to
external political issues as soon as he had been initiated into the
secrets and aims of Britain's traditional Colonial policy, as handled
by the Permanent Secretaries who always kept themselves inde-
pendent of changing party politics. He learnt that, since the Suez
Canal could easily be blocked in the event of war, the security of
the sea-route to India depended upon keeping a firm grip on the
Cape and securing its hinterland as well. The Dutch element in
the Cape had therefore to be humoured. In order to defend this
'Gibraltar of the two Oceans' against German, French and
Belgian surprises from the rear, it was essential to keep the back
doors to South Africa well guarded by means of a ring of colonial
possessions which would at the same time protect the rear of the
Sudan and the entry into Egypt against intruders.

England's position, as the undisputed financier of the world,
was dependent on the gold-mines of the Rand which were
producing already a quarter of the world's entire output, with
ever-increasing yields. As long as Britain controlled the gold of
the world she would play a decisive role in all world affairs. Thus
in order to fortify her position in the world, the pending issues
in Africa would first have to be cleared up. For that reason the
gold-fields of die Rand which were for the greater part owned by
British companies, financed by British investors, and worked by
British experts and workmen would have to be brought under the

[298]

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

Union Jack. And the Boer Government at Pretoria would have
to be removed, by fair means or foul, before the Germans could
forestall Britain by a sudden blow from their impulsive Kaiser.

Chamberlain's eyes had been opened by a speech delivered to
the German Club in Pretoria by President Kruger on the occasion
of the Kaiser's birthday banquet held in January of that year* 1895:

... I always thought before [1884] that our Republic was regarded
as a child amongst other countries, but the Kaiser received me as
the representative of a grown-up Republic ... I know I may count
on the Germans in future ... I feel certain when the time comes
for the Republic to wear still larger clothes, you will have done much
to bring it about, . . . The time is coming for our friendship to be
more firmly established than ever.

It became dear to Chamberlain that fast action in the Transvaal
was imperative. He had already shown his willingness to go to
war against the Transvaal when Kruger had closed the drifts.
But Kruger in his wisdom had not done him the favour of giving
cause for war.

Chamberlain had also learnt that according to tradition the
Colonial Office welcomed and encouraged men like Rhodes and
did not mind their making huge profits as long as they proved
themselves useful by doing all the dirty work which the Govern-
ment itself could not handle for reasons of foreign policy or
because of the 'negrophil cranks'.

From the files Chamberlain learnt further that already as far
back as 1 893 his predecessor, on the recommendation of Sir Henry
Loch, had sanctioned a revolution by the UManders against the
Kruger regime with the ultimate aim of bringing the Transvaal
under the Union Jack. In 1894, when a disturbance occurred in
Johannesburg during a visit of the High Commissioner to
Pretoria to confer with Kruger about the commandeering of
Uitlanders for commandos against the Natives, Loch had kept
the Bechuanaland Police in readiness on the Transvaal border to
move into Johannesburg at a moment's notice.
* His predecessor, Lord Kipon, Chamberlain found, had received
confidential information from the High Commissioner in June
1894 about a conversation in Pretoria between Loch and Lionel
Phillips. The contents of this astonishing interview became general

[199]

RHODES OF AFRICA

knowledge In Rhodes* camp through a letter to 'dear Belt 5 from
Phillips, his junior partner;

Sir Henry Loch . . . asked me some very pointed questions, such
as what arms were already in Johannesburg, whether the population
could hold the place for six days until help could arrive etc. and
stated further, that, if there had been 3,000 rifles and ammunition
here, he would certainly have come over. He further informed me
in a significant way that they had prolonged the Swazi Agreement
[with the Transvaal] for 6 months and said he supposed in that time
Johannesburg would be better prepared as much as to say, if things
are safer., then we shall actively intervene.

Lord Ripon had reported to the Prime Minister, Lord Rosebery,
in September 1894:

We might make war on the Boers ... or we might play off the
British element . . . against the Boer element and give the Boer
Government thereby a lot of trouble. To go to war with the Boers
... I hold to be out of the question. It would be very costly, it
would require a large force. . . .

To press our complaints against the Transvaal on account of their
treatment of British subjects and support the latter in their claims
would be a course having in it more elements of ultimate success
than may at first appear, but would be, no doubt, uncertain in its
effects and would be represented as mean and cowardly . . . for which
last I for one should not care.

As a result of his discoveries. Chamberlain was satisfied that
his Liberal predecessors had acted or would have acted exactly as
tie was going to act and thus, no matter what he chose to do in
the Transvaal, the Liberals would have to give their consent.

Shortly after Chamberlain had been established in the Colonial
Office Rhodes had charged Dr Rutherford Harris with the task
of sounding the new man. Chamberlain, suspicious of everything
coming from Rhodes, asked his collaborators, Lord Selborne, the
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and the two Permanent
Under-Secretaries, Sir Robert Meade and Mr E. Fairfield, to be
present at the interview. Dr Harris was introduced by Earl Grey,
one of the directors of the Chartered Company and a personal
friend of both Chamberlain and Rhodes.

It is not known whether Dr Harris had, as was his habit, taken
rather more liquor with his lunch than was good for him. At any

[3 3

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

rate, he was very loquacious and in the course of his tirades he
referred in confidence to the unrest at Johannesburg by
making what he later called 'guarded allusions to the desirability
of there being a police force near the border*. He said something
like: c We shall be here [on the border] and if a rising takes place
in Johannesburg, of course we could not stand by and see them
tightly pressed, . . .'

Chamberlain's coolness sank to an arctic temperature when he
interrupted the doctors jabbering:

'I am here in an official capacity. I can only hear information
of which I can make official use/

He put the doctor off by adding that he had full confidence
in the High Commissioner to do the right thing at the right time.

The cool reception which he had received at the Colonial Office
did not prevent Dr Harris from cabling to Rhodes fantastic
reports, from which Rhodes must have gained the impression
that Chamberlain had sanctioned all his plans. Yet the snub must
have been strong enough even for Dr Harris to notice that
Chamberlain was not willing to become an accessory to Rhodes'
conspiracy. He therefore confided all further news of happenings
in Johannesburg to Fairfield, a personal friend, knowing that it
would finally reach Chamberlain's ears. Probably on Rhodes'
instructions he also won over Flora Shaw, the editor of the
Colonial Section of The Times.

She was a valuable ally. At the Colonial Office, Flora Shaw was
persona grata and held in high esteem for her thorough knowledge,
her discretion and her reliability. Believing in Rhodes' 'mission*,
she became his staunch admirer, ally and co-conspirator. When
Dr Harris returned to South Africa she took over his duties of
keeping Rhodes informed about happenings in the Colonial Office
and of acting as Rhodes' go-between with Chamberlain. She gave
her help for no reason other than her conviction that the Uit-
landers' cause was right and that Kruger and his Boer Govern-
ment formed a disturbing element for the peace and further
development of South Africa. Even in the planned Raid she could
see nothing wrong. She gave the foreign correspondents of The
Times a memorandum with the necessary advance c dope', so that
they would fall into line when the event came off.

She had recently interviewed Dr Leyds, Kruger's State Secre-
tary, who, on the pretext of 'seeing a throat specialist', had spent

RHODES OF AFRICA

several weeks in Berlin. She had learnt that all the non-official
Germans whom the Transvaal Secretary had met had assured him
that "he might rely on German help if England interfered on
behalf of the BItianders. . . .* She also drew the attention of the
Colonial Office to an article published in the Gaulois which warned
that 'whatever happens in the Transvaal nothing can be allowed
to take place to the benefit of England'. How serious was the
view taken by the military authorities was shown by the fact that
the War Office was planning to direct a second troopship to
Cape Town.

The situation was rapidly mounting to a climax. Fate could still
be guided, however, if Chamberlain had a wish to do so. In his
hands he held Britain's immediate future. Experts in the Colonial
Office saw the implications of what threatened the country:
already early in the year Germany had intimated to Rosebery that
she claimed the right to support President Kruger. Krupp had
received large orders from Pretoria for artillery guns, machine-
guns and ammunition. German instructors were busy training the
Transvaal artillery.

The situation was so precarious that the Colonial Office con-
sidered it necessary to prompt its chief by a letter, on 18 Decem-
ber, that he 'may wish the Uitlander movement to be postponed
for a year or so*. Besides the political reasons, another considera-
tion was mentioned. *. . if it takes place there will probably be
a "slump" in the South African mining market which . . . may
produce a serious crisis in the City*. Britain's Colonial Office
acting as the guardian angel of the Stock Exchange, its jobbers
and punters! Chamberlain replied that the present time seemed
to him more convenient for action since foreign intervention in
South Africa was the more probable the longer the delay.

A day later the Colonial Office informed its holidaying chief
that Maguire, Rhodes* partner, had been informed accordingly
and had replied that Johannesburg would begin to *move ? in
about ten days (29 December) and that postponement for a year
was impossible as * Johannesburg is so full of bad characters, for
whom there is no legitimate employment, that nothing can be
done to keep them quiet, except to set them fighting/ A solution
of the unemployment problem by revolution!

Maguire cabled to Rhodes the information which he had just
received at the Colonial Office. The same statement and probably

[302] -

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

with more details and reasons were given to Flora Shaw by
Fairfieid, who did not know that she was now also acting as
Rhodes* confidential agent in London.

A week previously Flora Shaw had cabled to Rhodes:

Delay dangerous; sympathy now complete, but will depend very
much upon action before European powers give time to enter a
protest which as European situation considered serious might
paralyse Government: general feeling in the Stock Market very
suspicious.

After receiving Fairfield*s latest confidential comments she
cabled to Rhodes on 20 December:

Chamberlain is sound in case of interference of foreign powers,
but have special reason to believe wishes you to do it immediately.

When Rhodes received Harris* mendacious report about Ms
interview with Chamberlain, and when he heard that Lord Grey
had later given Chamberlain further details about Rhodes* plan,
including the information about troops being assembled at the
*jumping-ofF strip* at Pitsani, he could not but believe that the
Colonial Secretary was *in it up to the neck*.

What Chamberlain without experience in this kind of con-
spiracy and also not yet used to intercourse with men reared on
the moral morass of South Africa really believed was that a raid,
not The Raid, was to take place .and that Rhodes* police-troops
would march on Johannesburg only after the rising, so as to keep
order on the Rand, and only after receiving orders from the High
Commissioner, who would hurry to Johannesburg to act as
arbitrator. Such was the information which Sir Hercules Robinson
had given Chamberlain with a warning that *a fiasco would be
most disastrous*, the same thought about a 'fyasco* which Rhodes
had expressed at almost the same hour.

When Chamberlain was dressing on that evening of Monday,
30 ^December, he was not thinking of South African affairs*
Robinson, in his ktest dispatch, had cabled that the movement
had collapsed. And Chamberlain was not sorry. After dinner,
however, there arrived a messenger from the Colonial Office, and
it would have to be bad news with which they would worry him
so kte at night. . . .

[303]

RHODES OF AFRICA

His face white and pearls of sweat on his forehead, Chamberlain
sat in his study as though paralysed. On his desk lay the message
that Jameson had invaded the Transvaal, but that the High
Commissioner was still trying to stop him. *] this succeeds, it
will ruin me, I am going up to London to crush it,' he told
Ms wife.

After a few hours 3 sleep he was at his desk and immediately he
sent a cable to Sir Hercules Robinson instructing him to declare
the Raid *an act of war, or rather of filibustering', to make it
clear to Rhodes that if the Chartered Company were involved in
this 'marauding action* he would withdraw the Charter and
liquidate the Company, and for the rest approving of Robinson's
measures in trying to stop Jameson.

When Rhodes learnt of this cable he was at first speechless.
Then he sent for his secretary: *Let us make a telegram to Flora
Shaw 3 :

Inform Chamberlain that I shall get through all right if he supports
me but must not send cable like he sent to High Commissioner.
Today the crux is, I will win and South Africa will belong to
England.

On Tuesday, 3 1 December, the entire English Press condemned
Dr Jameson's Raid unanimously and hut led heavy accusations at
Rhodes.

The next day, the first day of the year 1 896, The Times published
the 'Letter of Invitation* with its sobby reference to 'women and
children* which Harris, on Rhodes' instructions, had cabled to
Flora Shaw* This time the date of the letter was falsified to read
28 December, the third time the date had been altered. Rhodes
had counted on the Englishman's sentimental sympathy with
women and children in distress. And he was right. Overnight
Dr Jameson, the 'raiding filibuster', the 'mad law-breaker', the
"foolish marauder', was turned into the gallant knight-errant, the
chevalier sans reproche by the English Press.

The attitude of the English public towards the whole issue of
Jameson's Raid had changed. The Raid had come as a shock to
the English people, but not a wholly unwelcome shock. For years
the Jingoes had been drumming into their heads: 'Remember
Majuba/ They had also seen to it that the Boers were depicted

[34]

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

as hoary savages on the lowest level of civilization. It was there-
fore not surprising that Dr Jameson was considered a hero by
the masses.

To his consternation Chamberlain found that with the rise in
the Doctor's popularity his own prestige decreased. The Jingo
papers turned against him, accusing him of lack of backbone in
bending to old Kruger's will and leaving unarmed Englishmen
at the mercy of the Boers 5 .

Full of bitterness, Chamberlain complained in a letter to Ms
wife that 'they have been waiting to jump on me', but at the same
time he congratulated himself for having stood firm and separated
himself from 'what was a disgraceful exhibition of filibustering*.
He added that his messenger had met Jameson who had refused
to obey the order to return. Sadly he concluded: *. . . so this is
the end/

In the room next to that of the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs on the first floor of an ugly grey building in the Wilhelm-
strasse sat Friedrich August Baron von Holstein. It was no secret
that since he had managed to eject the Bismarcks, father and son,
from the grace of the young Kaiser and out of office, he was the
supreme ruler over Germany's foreign politics, no matter who
was the official head of the Atiswaerfige A.mt. Ambassadors,
foreign ministers and his own superiors not only regarded him
as a Machiavellian genius, but in personal dealings they were as
afraid as first offenders before a judge. He looked more like a
third-rate pensioned civil servant than a diplomat. He had no
social ambitions or any interests other than to play his clever
game on the chessboard of world politics. He never went to
court; he never accepted invitations from anyone; he even
declined the commands of the Kaiser for personal reports. During
the last five years he had seen his imperial master only twice when
the Emperor had come to his office.

Bismarck had hated him, the 'man with the hyaena-eyes', and
Holstein had fought against the Bismarckian system of upholding
the European balance of power through the Triple Alliance,
while having at the same time a reassurance pact with Russia. In
Holstein's opinion this traditional German policy was outdated.
He wanted to draw Britain into the orbit of German alliances.

Germany's courtship of Britain found litde response in

[305]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Whitehall. The Kaiser had thought In 1895 that with Salisbury
at the head of a new Tory Government and simultaneously its
Foreign Secretary, a German-British alliance was assured. When
Salisbury gave the Kaiser the cold shoulder., Holstein maintained
that the only way was to squeeze Britain into a tight corner
somewhere and force her into an alliance.

When the first news of the Raid reached Berlin on Tuesday,
30 December^ Baron von Holstein rejoiced. Here he had Albion
in just the tight corner for which he had always hoped. He drafted
a Note to be handed to Salisbury by the German Ambassador to
St James, Count Hatzfeldt, asking the British Prime Minister to
repudiate Jameson's violation of Transvaal territory immediately.
In the event of the British Government's declining to do so,
Hatzfeldt was instructed to demand his passport.

Thanks be to Providence for having established the good and
healthy custom for Englishmen to take, whenever they can, a
prolonged week-end holiday in the country. On New Year's Eve
no responsible official was present at No. 10 Downing Street.
Since the previous Saturday they had been indulging in their
New Year celebrations. Hatsfeldt did not consider it etiquette to
let such an important document lie there for several days and
therefore took it home again, asking the Wilhelmstrasse for
further instructions. In the meantime Holstein, the Kaiser and his
Ministers had calmed down considerably. In the hang-over mood
of New Year's Day, Hatzf eldt was instructed to destroy the ulti-
matum Note and replace it by another, a more conciliatory verbal
dmarche y stating that the German Government, because of the
large German financial investments and industrial interests in the
Transvaal, was anxious to have the status quo of the Republic
maintained. This change of attitude was largely due to the refusal
of the Portuguese Government to allow a contingent of fifty men
of the German Marine Corps to pass through Delagoa Bay and
to Kruger's refusal to let German troops enter his territory even
to 'safeguard the German Consulate at Johannesburg'. Prince
Hohenlohe, the seventy-seven-year-old German Chancellor who
had had an interview with Dr Leyds only a few days before,
warned the Kaiser: *Dr Leyds is a suspicious man; he detests the
idea of a German protectorate as much as a British one!' Holstein
therefore suggested that they wait for further developments in the
Transvaal.

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

They did not have to wait long. On 2 January* at Krugersdorp,
twenty miles west of Johannesburg, Dr Jameson surrendered to
a superior Boer commando under General Cronje after heavy
fighting during which Jameson lost twenty-seven men killed and
thirty wounded. The Boers lost two men. In Johannesburg,
according to the latest reports, everything was quiet.

The next morning, 3 January, the Kaiser held a conference at
the Chancellery. His shrill excited voice and quick manner of
speaking indicated that the Almighty War Lord was in one of
those dangerous moods that usually ended in some rash order
being given with none having a chance to discuss or contradict.

Almost shouting at them, the Kaiser announced that at last the
hour had struck to bring Britain down on her knees by uniting
the European Powers against her* He would take over the
Protectorate of the Transvaal, for which purpose he intended to
dispatch marines and troops to Africa. He had already ordered the
cruiser Steadier to proceed to Delagoa Bay,

Old Prince Hohenlohe or 'Uncle Chlodwig* as the Emperor
called him usually fell asleep during such long tirades. This
amazing proposition kept Mm wide awake, He was the only one
who dared to interrupt the Kaiser. In the slow and quiet tones
of an old man he asked:

'Does Your Majesty realise that such a step would mean
without any doubt war with England?*

*Yes, but only on land!*

Carefully Baron Marschall von Bieberstein tried to explain to
the Kaiser the folly of military action, but he was not even allowed
to finish his sentence. The Emperor had become even more
agitated and was shouting, swearing and banging his fist on the
table as he had not been seen to do since the day of Bismarck's
dismissal. When he saw that even his naval advisors were not
going to support him, he shouted angrily: *Go and call
HolsteinF

Holstein declined to come. He would rather resign than under-
go the ordeal of wasting his time with 'that megalomaniac
neurotic'. Besides, the matter did not concern his department at
aU, but should be handled by the Colonial Office. In charge of
the Colonial Office was an old Geheimrat, the prototype of the
unimaginative German bureaucrat. Helplessly he tan over to
Holstein and asked him for advice. Holstein had merely not

[307]

RHODES OF AFRICA

wanted to be drawn out of his anonymity and shoulder respon-
sibilities; behind the scenes he was as usual quite willing to make
the puppets dance according to his own tune. He refused to do
anything before the other Great Powers were sounded.

The old Gebdmrat suggested to Bieberstein that a telegram of
congratulations should be sent to President Kruger* Bieberstein
found the idea * colossal*

The draft was brought to the Kaiser, who, upon hearing Prince
Hohenlohe's and Bieberstein's opinions, agreed to sign it, after
having deleted several offensive phrases:

I tender you my sincere congratulations that, without appealing
to the help of friendly Powers, you and your people have been
successful in opposing with your own forces the armed bands which
have broken into your country to disturb the peace, and in restoring
order and maintaining the independence of your country against

attacks from without. c . , _. 1

Signed: Wilhelm, LR.

In the last minute Bieberstein had corrected the draft, taking
out the original phrase 'the dignity of your Government' and
replacing it by 'the independence of your country*, in order to
'make it more pungent** He should have known that the indepen-
dence of the Transvaal was abolished by the Pretoria Convention
of 1881.

Admiral Knonr, somewhat hard of hearing, had not understood
the telegram properly. When he read it he almost imploringly
asked the Kaiser not to send it. The Kaiser, already at the door,
asked Prince Hohenlohe to hold up the telegram until the matter
could be discussed again. 'Sorry, Your Majesty, it is already
gone/ was the r eply*

When the Queen read the Kaiser's telegram to Kruger she
remarked to Salisbury: 'Outrageous and very unfriendly towards
us!'

The next day she wrote a letter to the Kaiser which in its calm
dignity and wise restraint presents an excellent example of her
great statesmanship:

My dear William, As your Grandmother to whom you have
always shown so much affection and of whose example you have
always spoken with so much respect, I feel I cannot refrain from
expressing my deep regret at the telegram you sent President Kruger.

[308]

A LITTIE HISTORY BEING MADE

It Is considered very unfriendly towards this country, which I feel
sure It Is not Intended to be, and has, I grieve to say, made a very
painful impression here. The action of Dr Jameson was of course
very wrong and totally unwarranted; but considering trie very
peculiar position in which the Transvaal stands towards Great
Britain, I think it would have been far better to have said nothing.
Our great wish has always been to keep on the best of terms with
Germany, trying to act together, but I fear your Agents In the
Colonies do the very reverse, which deeply grieves us. Let me hope
that you will try and check this. . . .

I hope you will take my remarks in good part, as they are entirely
dictated by rny desire for your good. 1

Upon receiving this letter the Kaiser immediately replied to his
'Most beloved Grandmama*, giving the reasons for his action in
pompous words and empty phrases. He'had acted, he said, c in the
name of peace* which, 'following your glorious example*, he
wanted *to maintain everywhere*. 'The men were acting in open
disobedience to your orders,* he continued, referring to the
declaration of the British Government and her Ambassador.
'They were rebels. . . . Now to me, rebels against the will of her
most gracious Majesty the Queen are the most execrable beings
in the world, and I was so incensed at the idea of your orders
having been disobeyed . . . that I thought it necessary to show
that publicly, I challenge anybody who is a Gentleman to point
out where there is anything hostile to England in this.*

The damage had been done. There was more than one *Gende-
man* whom the Kaiser could have challenged. All the newspapers,
the whole English Nation one might say, stood up as one man
against this German interference. The English Press fulminated
against Germany and the Kaiser to such a degree that, on the
advice of the Queen, Salisbury had to calm down public opinion*
The German Ambassador saw the imminent danger of war and
warned Berlin that 'British ministers must be guided in some
measure by the voice of the people.*

So as to show the Germans that he meant business, Salisbury
mobilized a naval flying squadron to be sent to South Africa. The
Wilhelmstrasse began to back out.

From then onward Britain relinquished her 'splendid isolation*
and entered the cauldron of European politics. She soon sought

1 By permission from The Letters of Queen Victoria* published by John Murray,

[309]

RHODES OF AFRICA

to come to an understanding with France and Russia in order to
repair the 'balance of power* on the Continent.

On 2 January, Rhodes learnt of Jameson's ignominious
surrender. The dreaded 'fiasco* had finally occurred. He would
have to try to save what he could from the disaster* Both the
Charter and his position as Privy Councillor were essential for
his future, if there was to be a future at all. In the afternoon he
wrote out his resignation as Prime Minister,. The document was
scarcely completed when he felt that he had perhaps acted too
rashly* Why should he resign and thus accept responsibility
for the Raid? At any rate, the High Commissioner was ill and
had asked him to continue until a new Government could be
formed.

On leaving Government House, Rhodes almost collapsed, but
he still tried to give his friends the impression that nothing could
touch him. When Rhodes found a new phrase he would use it
ad nauseam at every opportunity. This time he repeated over and
over again: * Well, there is a little history being made; that's all a
little history being made. . . .*

When he arrived home and saw the grey faces of his friends and
collaborators, Rhodes shouted in a hoarse falsetto: 'Jameson, at
any rate, tried to Jo something. All of you down here do nothing
at all except jabber, jabber, jabberP

With these words he rushed up the stairs and locked himself
in his bedroom. In his hand he held a letter which contained
Schreiner's resignation. 'Blood has been shed and the position
I fill I can no longer hold under you,* he wrote, and ended with
the words; e l have had no more bitter sorrow in my life, than
my loss of you/

Rhodes crushed the letter and put it into his trouser-pocket,
muttering: "Yes, I ought to have told Schreiner ... I should have
told him. ... I was very fond of Schreiner. It was wrong. I ought
to have told him. . . .* Toni was waiting for orders on the landing
when he heard alarming tioises coming from his master's room.
Were they deep sighs, cries of pain, or could it be that the baas
was sobbing? It went on for a long time. The faithful servant was
relieved when he heard his master's footsteps in the room. Rhodes
called for whisky. When Toni was summoned again after some
time, he saw that the bottle had been almost emptied. Rhodes

Rondebosch. Groote Schuur, Rhodes' home near Cape Town
From an old photograph

Parliament House, Cape Town, with Table Mountain in the background

Muizenberg. The cottage
in \vhich Rhodes died

The grave of Rhodes in
the Matopo Hills

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

ordered his horse to be saddled and with Ms servant went up Into
the mountains. For three days he tried to escape from himself,
from his friends and from being forced to a decision. Late at
night lie would slip into the house by a back door and lock
himself immediately into Ms bedroom, where the servants would
hear Mm roaming up and down without a break. In the morning
before day-break he would ride away again into the mountains.
He ate notMng except an occasional sandwich,, but drank, accord-
ing to Toni, bottle after bottle of wMsky, though he showed no
signs of being affected by the alcohol in any way. They rode from
one place to another. Somewhere they would stop and Rhodes
would sit on a rock for hours, Ms elbows resting on Ms knees,
Ms head between Ms hands, brooding. It was thought afterwards
that Rhodes was trying to gather enough 'Dutch courage 9 to
commit suicide. Many of Ms intimates feared such a step. It seems
more likely that he needed the alcohol to calm Ms nerves and to
stimulate iMs heart, wMch must have suffered under the strain of
the past weeks.

Rhodes tried to persuade Mmself that Ms actions had been
dictated by fear of German infiltration into the Transvaal, just as
he had saved Bechuanaiand and the North from falling into
German hands. But no one would swallow such a tale today, he
told Mmself:

'Nobody and nothing can defend me, for I am indefensible. I did

not send Jameson over the border I would not have done

anything so suicidal to the policy I had laboured all these years

f or But one is morally culpable morally culpable. Why did

I not make it my duty to know more, and take care to prevent

Jameson going over the border? I am indefensible indefensible

Now, I shall have to face the music!

*We are in the trough of the wave; you have to tMnk of

tomorrow If you only knew what was in front of you, you

would never attempt a thing

*But Jameson was very nearly a success. Of course, the proper
course would have been for Jameson to have put his bag on the

train and gone to the Johannesburg races Instead of arming

that mob in Johannesburg a couple of hundred men could have
gone to Pretoria with knobkerries and seized the President, members
of the Raad and the Arsenal, and the whole thing would have been
over *

[3"]

RHODES OF AFRICA

He tried to sleep in the shade of a tree where Tom had laid out
a rug for him on the grass. After a few minutes he jumped up
again. Rhodes had always been able to fall asleep immediately
whenever he wished and had once boasted that if he was told on
going to bed that all Cape Town was in flames he would fall
asleep at once all the same and sleep right through the night. And
now sleep would not come. The portraits of the Roman emperors
in Ms library came to his mind:

*They staked all their fortunes in one great battle and often lost.
How they must have felt sitting in the midst of the stricken field
when all their hopes had perished and everything had gone to
rack and ruin. And yet the world has jogged along fairly well
after all. . . . And in spite of whatever happens to us, the race
moves on. . . .'

It was Saturday night, the third day of Rhodes' flight into the
mountains, and just a week since Jameson had 'taken the bit
between his teeth and bolted off', just a week since he, the
'Colossus', 'the uncrowned King of South Africa', 'the modern
Midas', 'the Elizabethan Prodigy', had been hurled from the
summit of his career into the depths of ignominy, the icy floods
of contempt, the dirty morass of calumny. He hurried home. His
loneliness pressed heavily upon him.

He thirsted for the friendship of his old collaborators, the
independent, straightforward companions of his political life,
men like Hofmeyr, Schreiner and Merriman, who, as opposed to
his intimate business associates, had never attempted to gain a
personal advantage out of the friendship. As soon as he arrived
at Groote^Schuur he called for his secretary. A bundle of telegrams
was brought to him. Mechanically he opened a few, but dropped
them on the floor without reading them. He took up again his
nervous pacing of the room. The secretary wanted to retire dis-
creetly. Rhodes stopped him, almost imploringly: 'Don't go away;
stay here for a little while.'

Interrupting the silence only by an occasional deep sigh,
Rhodes walked from the window to the bathroom door, from one
wall to another. He was bathed in sweat. Exhausted, he sank into
the arm-chair at the window and kicked angrily at the heap of
telegrams on the floor. Finally he said over and over again: 'Now

that I am down, I shall find out who are my real friends Now

that . . /

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

In his naivety Rhodes had seriously believed that Hofmeyr ?
Schreiner and perhaps also Merriman would believe in his com-
plete innocence and stick to Mm. He read a note sent to him by
Hofmeyr, who had also feared during Rhodes 5 three days of
flight and heavy drinking that the 'Colossus 9 might lose his head
and do away with himself. In a few lines Hofmeyr tried to tell him
that though their political association must needs be at an ends, his
personal feelings of friendship and sympathy for his friend*s plight
remained untouched by the recent events.

Rhodes almost upset the arm-chair as he leapt out of it and
flung the letter on the floor. Stamping on it, he shouted at his
astonished secretary:

*Go back and tell him that I want friends while I'm alive. I don't
want any of his post-mortem snivelling.*

The next morning, before the sun was up, he wrote a note to
Schreiner:

It is Sunday. A merciful Providence will now guide us to a
decision. I really mean it and no chaff. * . .

Schreiner was away at his fishing cottage at False Bay and could
therefore not accede to Rhodes' demand to come and see him.
Also worried by many rumours of Rhodes 5 wanderings, he wrote
him a note in which can be felt the sincerity of a great friendship
words inspired by a sore heart and dictated by a character of
sterling quality:

Whatever you suffer or whatever you seem to have lost or to be
losing, do not let them induce you to do anything small. You must
go on living your life on big lines. Rest and wait and your grip will
return. I am so anxious about you, and my anxiety about your
health is less than my apprehension, foolish perhaps, that you may
be persuaded not to take and acknowledge your foil responsibility
for what has occurred. . . . You will understand how my heart yearns
towards you. As fox me, I am all right in a way and I dream still.

On Sunday evening there arrived unexpectedly at Groote
Schuur the Archbishop of Cape Town. He refused to accept the
response that Rhodes was unable to see him. Friends had asked
him to go out to Groote Schuur as they themselves had not been
admitted and feared that the worst might happen. The Archbishop

[313]

RHODES OF AFRICA

finally saw Rhodes in his bedroom and spoke to him at some
length, telling him that his Christian duty bade him not give up.
Rhodes appeared much relieved by the soothing words of the
Archbishop.

The next few days brought one crushing blow after the other.
From Pretoria came the news that the 'Boers show a tendency
to get out of hand and demand the execution of Jameson'. On
6 January a new Government was formed at the Cape, and Rhodes
was not even consulted by his successor. Secretly he had hoped
so little did he as yet realize the seriousness of his position
that his influence was still strong enough to prevent the formation
of a government in which he was not present at least in spirit.

On 7 January after an ultimatum from the Transvaal Govern-
ment, Johannesburg surrendered unconditionally. The comic-
opera revolution had ended in Gilbert-and-Sullivan style just as
it had begun.

The leaders of the Reform Committee, among them Frank
Rhodes, Lionel Phillips, Rhodes' American mining expert J. H.
Hammond, and Barnato's nephew Solly Joel, were arrested and
taken to prison In Pretoria, The only pleasant tidings which
Rhodes heard that day was the news that President Kruger, upon
the personal intervention of the Queen, had magnanimously
consented to hand over Dr Jameson and the other officers under
arrest to the British authorities for punishment.

No one to whom Rhodes could unburden his heart came near
him. And in him there burnt a desire for activity, anger at being
pushed aside, and fear that his voice would no longer be heard.
Only Hofmeyr and the Bond had the power to pave the way for
Rhodes to return to the politics of the Cape.

Rhodes swallowed his pride and asked a cousin of Hofmeyr's
to arrange a meeting between them. Only after his cousin's appeal
, to 'display the Christian spirit of forgiveness' did Hofmeyr give
his consent. He met Rhodes and in his face he saw written the
mental and physical agony which Rhodes had endured during
the last few days. 'What am I to do?' Rhodes asked Hofmeyr.
"Live it down!' "How can I do it? Am I to get rid of myself?'

Hofmeyr could only advise his former ally to resign from
Parliament and to keep away from politics for a while. Rhodes, he
insisted, must declare publicly by a manifesto that he condemned
Jameson's deplorable action whole-heartedly. A declaration of

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

this kind, for which every decent man in the Cape had now
been waiting for more than a week, was necessary in the
interests of reconciliation and peace.

Hofmeyr had the impression that Rhodes' thoughts were stray-
ing during the conversation. Repeatedly he interrupted Hofmeyr
to lament his fate: his whole life's work would be destroyed and
his life would no longer be worth living if the Charter were
revoked. He seemed to worry only about the Charter. Was
Hofmeyr going to attack him and agitate for the cancellation of
the Charter? If such an attack had to be expected he could not
go away from Cape Town; otherwise he might leave for Rhodesia
very soon.

Rhodes remained very vague* Immediately after receiving
Hofmeyr's promise that he had no intention of attacking Mm
concerning the Charter which he asked him to repeat the next
day in front of a mutual friend he seemed to be filled with new
life. He shook Hofmeyr*s hand and said casually that he would
consider Hofmeyr's advice and that they could talk matters over
again 'when times are more settled*.

On his way home Hofmeyr realized that Rhodes was^ helplessly
lost, still 'imagining himself a young king, the equal of the
Almighty*. He felt that *the white ants had begun again to eat
away all that was noble in this unhappy man, poisoning his weak
character with the honey of flattery 7 .

The staff of Groote Schuur was surprised when told that
Rhodes was leaving for Kimberley immediately. Forgotten if
ever he had contemplated it seriously was the thought of suicide.
The old fighting spirit had returned*

His friends in Kimberley certainly came up to the occasion.
They had stirred up the whole town to give Rhodes a rousing
welcome. When Rhodes saw the masses of people pushing to-
wards him, when he heard the cheers, he became intoxicated
again with the greatness of his personality and believed that all
these people had come to show him that they stood behind him.
These good people of Kimberley, he thought, were certainly not
alone. The whole of South Africa, he was convinced, was behind
him. And he would not fail them.

He waved to them happily, feeling like a victorious Roman
emperor welcomed homein triumphal procession. 'Speech! Speech!*
they shouted. He was careful at first, but encouraged by their

RHODES OF AFRICA

cheering he let himself go, uttering dark threats, making obscure
allegations and indulging in generalizing accusations. He ended
the short speech with the words:

There is an idea abroad that my public career had come to an end.
On the contrary, I think it is just beginning, and I have a firm belief
that I shall live to do useful work for this country.

His former friends in Cape Town were disagreeably surprised
by Rhodes' quick political resurrection. Their astonishment in-
creased when they learnt about a telegraphic interview with
Rhodes published in the New York World (14 January 1896):

CAPE TOWN, 12 JANUARY 1896.

The position is that within the Transvaal there are 70,000 new-
comers and an old population of 14,000.

With the development of the gold industry to a fuller extent the
newcomers will probably amount to 500,000 in five years.

From time to time the position will be upset by the attempts of the
new population to claim common civil rights, which eventually they
certainly must get.

Statesmanship should give them some rights now, as the present
state is impossible for the newcomers, who own more than half the
soil of the Transvaal, and nine-tenths of the wealth of the country.

The new males outnumber the old in population five to one, and
are composed largely of Americans, including the principal mine
managers.

England is the only great power in South Africa.

She is now threatened with German interference, which she is
bound to resent and resist.

In this she should have America's sympathy. Blood is thicker
than water.

Americans above all nations insist on civil rights in one's industries
here at the Cape.

In the Transvaal all my managers are Americans.

And yet we have the spectacle of the two great English-speaking
nations of the world almost on the verge of war about some barren
land in South America, whereas by working in perfect harmony the

peace of the world would be assured.

c. j. RHODES.

This statement of Rhodes' had just the opposite effect of what
he had expected. He had blatantly demonstrated his political

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

Ignorance outside his own narrow sphere, particularly where it
concerned American public opinion. From the editorial comment
on his interview, published in the same issue of the New York
World, it was dear that all decent people condemned his (and
Chamberlain's) policy of aggression in South Africa:

THE TROUBLE IN AFRICA

The cable message of ex-Premier Cecil Rhodes of Cape Colony
to the World ... is a declaration that the doom of the Boer Republic
has been declared, that the English influence, the mining influence,
the greed of gain and the spirit of the age, all working against this
picturesque relic of individual freedom, cannot fail to destroy it. * * .

It may be wrong for the Boers to refuse political rights to the
Uitlanders. But if it is, the way to right the wrong is not to send a
swift and secret expedition armed with Winchesters and Maxims to
surprise a peaceful, orderly, legal and presumably unarmed civil
government. . . .

The Jameson raid will have to be settled for in full before any
demand is made on the people of the United States for sympathy
with the raiders.

When Rhodes* attempt at influencing American public opinion
became known in South Africa, Hofmeyr condemned the cabled
interview as a 'bundle of lies, distortions and humbug 3 . Not one
of Rhodes* facts or figures corresponded with the truth.

The New York interview was followed by a similar declaration
of Rhodes* given to The Times which Hofmeyr described as 'filled
with mischievous fictions*. No, Rhodes had learnt nothing. His
former collaborators would still have to teach him a lesson in
spite of all their former friendship. Hofmeyr no longer felt himself
bound to spare Rhodes and wired to him that he had the full
intention, in case Rhodes continued to spread such ghastly lies,
of cabling *an exposure signed by himself and other prominent
men*. The telegram bore the signatures of all Rhodes* former
political friends, among them his successor Sir Gordon Sprigg,
Hofmeyr, Schreiner, Merriman and Sauer.

Rhodes stayed in Kimberley for only a few days. Then, without
telling anyone, he left for England.

It could no longer be denied that Chamberlain was in a quan-
dary. Everything had gone wrong since those eventful kst days

RHODES OF AFRICA

of the Old and first days of the New Year. The fiasco of the Raid,
the ridiculous Johannesburg 'revolution', the capture of Jameson
and aU his officers and the arrest of the leading 'Reformers' was
bad enough. Still worse that silly ass of a guards officer. Major
the Honourable 'Bobby* White, acting as Jameson's aide-de-
camp, had carefully kept in his kit not only all telegrams, mes-
sages, orders and correspondence but also the secret code and
had allowed it to fall into the hands of the Boers. Chamberlain's
name appeared in these documents in various connections. They
were now probably busy in Pretoria, using them to compromise
him and the Government as having been in the know aU along.
What they thought and did in Pretoria, Chamberlain did not care.
The only trouble was that He had firmly assured Salisbury that the
Colonial Office had been taken completely by surprise and had
had no previous knowledge of Rhodes' and Jameson's machina-
tions. As a result of this declaration Salisbury had made solemn
statements to the foreign Powers and the Queen had written to
various monarchs that the British Government had been in no
way involved.

A scapegoat would have to be found. Rumours were already
going round that Chamberlain had been 'in it up to the neck'.
Chamberlain's ambitions went beyond the Colonial Office, and
South Africa was not going to be the graveyard of his
reputation. Rhodes, life and soul of it all, would have to be the
scapegoat.

Rhodes had been warned. The news that he was already on his
way to England was anything but welcome to Chamberlain. With
what kind of adversary he had to deal Chamberlain was to learn
the very day, 4 February, on which Rhodes arrived.

Rhodes had sent Mr Bourchier Hawkesley, the solicitor of the
Chartered Company, to the Colonial Office to warn Chamberlain
through Hawkesley's Very great personal friend' Fairfield that
Rhodes would make use of certain telegrams in his possession,
proving beyond doubt Chamberlain's knowledge and approval
of the Raid, should Chamberlain make any attempt to cancel the
Charter, proceed against Rhodes or deprive Mm of his title of
Privy Councillor.

Chamberlain, in the dutches of a guilty conscience, asked
Fairfield to write a private letter to Hawkesley with a request to
come to him with the compromising telegrams. Instead of going

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

to the Colonial Office, Hawkesley sent Ms Very great personal
friend* an arrogant note: *Mr Chamberlain knows what I know.,
and can shape his course with this knowledge. . . . As I hope I
made clear to you there is not the slightest intention to make use
whatever of confidential communications. . .*

Through Lord Grey's intervention Chamberlain was allowed
to see copies of the telegrams. Unfortunately for him there were
not only the twisted reports of Rutherford Harris but altogether
seven different reports by absolutely reliable witnesses such as
Lord Grey, Hawkesley, Maguire and Flora Shaw,. who had all
cabled to Rhodes independently about interviews which they had
had with Chamberlain and his chief advisers in the Colonial Office.
From these telegrams there remained no doubt that Chamberlain
had known everything not only about the activities of the
Reformers in preparing an armed uprising but also about the
preparations of Dr Jameson for his Raid. Though 'Chamberlain
will do anything to assist*, "one of the telegrams stated, *you are
aware* [according to another text] 'Chamberlain states Dr Jame-
son's plan must not be mentioned to him*.

When Chamberlain read these telegrams he was consumed with
rage. It now became clear to him 'that there was & deliberate plot
to commit the Colonial Office ... to a general approval of
Rhodes* plans and then to use this afterwards as a screen for the
whole conspiracy*. No, Chamberlain could do nothing to fight
this 'bkckmailing scheme* instigated by people whom he called
*a dishonourable lot from top to bottom*. Chamberlain was ready
to appease Cecil Rhodes.

On 6 February, Rhodes entered Chamberlain's office. Rhodes
was not sure whether Chamberlain would fall into the trap. He
still counted with the possibility of being sent to prison. On his
arrival he had learnt that a Parliamentary Inquiry would probably
be opened against him. As usual when he was in a tight corner,
Rhodes tried to conceal his true feelings behind cynicism: *I don*t
mind doing a stretch. Well, I suppose I should go along all right.
There are a lot of books I have been wanting to read for many
years now without having an opportunity of doing so. I should
go in for a course of reading.*

For so peaceful and friendly a reception as he was given
by Chamberlain, Rhodes was certainly not prepared. For one
hour and forty minutes the two men were closeted together.

[319]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Chamberlain told Rhodes that he did not intend to revoke
the Charter, though for the only reason that the Government
did not want to be burdened with the heavy annual deficit in
Rhodesia. He did not, however, yield to Rhodes' demand to
drop the idea of a Parliamentary Inquiry in spite of all Rhodes'
efforts. About the compromising telegrams not a word was
mentioned.

When Rhodes came out of the room no trace of despair
remained on his face. It shone with the glow of his old self-
satisfaction. But this time no court was held in the Burlington
Hotel. He strongly felt the animosity of London towards him.
He considered himself 'hunted, hounded and harassed', especially
by the general opinion that the Raid had been organi2ed as a
stock-exchange manoeuvre in his and his friends 3 financial
interests.

Labouchere in Truth, as well as the Morning "Leader., the Daily
News and several financial papers pointed to the enormous profits
which Rhodes, Beit and their partners had derived from off-
loading the majority of their holdings in the Chartered Company
on the public at a time when shares which had cost them i stood
at S-io each. Between July 1895 and the beginning of 1896
Rhodes had made more than i million, Beit even more, and they
had not forgotten their old friends who also had been allowed
to make their 'pile', altogether a profit of -3,,25o,ooo for the
group.

Gold-share fever, the wildest speculations, the greatest share
swindles flourished as never before. It was therefore not surpris-
ing that some papers sounded a sharp warning against the
financing methods of the Chartered Company. Xabby' in Truth
spoke of *this wretched, rotten, bankrupt set of marauders
and murderers'. *A group of exceedingly shady financiers has
carried on a gambling establishment with the Union Jack flying
over it.'

No wonder that Rhodes became nervous once again. He had
learnt that when Parliament was to meet on n February, the
Raid would be one of the first topics of debate. His political and
legal advisers cautioned him to leave the country as soon as
possible, and thus avoid being called to the Bar of the House
and perhaps have criminal proceedings instituted against him.
'Hunted, hounded and harassed*, he left London on 10 February,

[320]

A LITTLE HISTORY BEING MADE

only five days after his arrival, and proceeded in the greatest
secrecy on a German steamer via the Suez Canal to Rhodesia.
Only there did he feel safe and free. That for which he had come
to England he had achieved: Chamberlain would not dare to
deprive him of the Charter. By means of a clever whispering
campaign that Chamberlain had been *in it up to the neck"
Rhodes was no longer held entirely responsible for the happen-
ings in South Africa. Joseph Chamberlain had been forced by
Rhodes to defend Rhodes in order to save himself, his reputation
and his future.

Rhodes sneaked away from London. It had been expected that
he would at least wait for the arrival of his friend Dr Jameson,
who together with his officers was being brought to London as a
prisoner on a warship. It would have been chivalrous, people
said, to testify on behalf of his old friend or at least to give him
some moral support. There were also the other men, the unfortu-
nate conspirators of the Reform Committee including his brother
Frank, who were awaiting trial in the Pretoria jail. All that
Rhodes did for his brother was to ask his sister Edith to go there
and 'look after Frank*.

Rhodes, seeking to save his own skin, was already on the
high seas when Parliament was washing all his dirty linen in
public.

The 1 3th February 1 896 was a great day in the House. Everyone
knew that Joseph Chamberlain would have to fight a battle royal for
his very life. Not a muscle moved in his face when Harcourt, very
carefully, since he still believed in Chamberlain's innocence, fired
off his accusations and exposed *the squalid and sordid picture
of stock-jobbing imperialism'. He ended his condemnation of
Rhodes with the warning that *we do not desire to extend the
Empire or gain wealth per fas et nefas by fraud, falsehood and
crime!*

Chamberlain rose from his seat. He assured the House c to the
best of my knowledge and belief that everybody, that Mr Rhodes,
that the Chartered Company, that the Reform Committee of
Johannesburg, and the High Commissioner were all equally
ignorant of the intention or action of Dr Jameson*.

If this was not the truth, it was at least clever politics. It must
have been the sharp edge of the poised dagger of blackmail which
made him launch out on a smug eulogy of the man whom the

RHODES OF AFRICA

whole world, including the majority of English people, considered
justly to have been the curse of South Africa:

... A few weeks ago Mr Rhodes was I think the most powerful
man in South Africa. , . He goes back almost as a private individual,
having not the control of a single policeman . . . and for the moment
at aU events, having seen his work jeopardized, possibly destroyed
the work he set himself of consolidating and bringing together the
Dutch and English races.

I am not to pronounce upon Mr Rhodes, but I say it would be an
act of ingratitude if we were, even now, when suspicion hangs over
him, to forget the great services he has rendered. I believe he is
capable of great service still . . . even if he has done wrong in the
past, he may do a great deal to repair that wrong, and recover the
confidence and gratitude of his fellow-citizens. . . .

CHAPTER XVI

. . . ALL BUT THE BOILS'

IT was not only the heat of the Rhodesian summer which
robbed Rhodes of sleep during the months which followed his
hurried London visit to interview Chamberlain at the beginning
of 1896. The disasters which befell him from the time of his
return to Africa till the end of 1897 would have broken a stronger
man.

On 30 May 1896, in Pretoria, Frank Rhodes, Lionel Phillips.,
Farrar and Hammond were condemned to death and the others to
two years* imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 each. President
Kruger realized, however, that the Johannesburg conspirators
had merely been instruments in the hands of Rhodes. When a
deputation of his burghers had come to him after the capture of
Dr Jameson he had thundered at them:

'Bah! You are always tap, tap, tapping at the tail of the snake;
why don't you cut his head off ?'

He decided to pardon the prisoners and commuted the capital
sentences to fines of 15,000 each with banishment for fifteen
years.

The news came as a great relief to Rhodes, who willingly paid
the fines. His share of the expenses for the miscarried revolt and
Raid the other half being carried by Beit amounted to more
than 250,000. Further and even greater amounts, Rhodes feared,
would be demanded of him by the British Government in pay-
ment of damages caused by the Raid, for which the Transvaal
was asking 677,938 3^ 3^. *for actual outlay* and i million
for 'moral and intellectual damage'.

Another danger threatened Rhodes: Kruger demanded his trial
before an English criminal court. Rhodes was certain that
Salisbury and his Cabinet would throw him to the wolves if they
could derive even the smallest advantage from it. That much was
dear after the treatment which had been meted out to poor
Jameson who after a seven-day trial had been sentenced to fifteen
months* imprisonment and his officers to terms of between five

RHODES OF AFRICA

and ten months. Only after a general uproar in the Press were
they given the privileges of First Division prisoners. After the
sentence Rhodes, through his lawyer Hawkesley, declared in the
London papers that he was willing to return from Rhodesia
immediately and stand his trial, in case Her Majesty's Government
'might think fit to call upon him to do so'.

The news from England upset Rhodes badly, especially when
he heard that even his friend Stead had censured him publicly,
in the Review of Reviews, and was Very anxious to have him sent
to prison . . . believing that it would have been much better for
him, for the cause of the Empire, and for the future of South
Africa*.

The next blow came in the form of a short note from the
Colonial Office that Rhodes and Beit must resign from the Board
of Directors of the Chartered Company, which hurt his pride even
though he had expected it. Something which also pained him a
great deal was the news that he had been black-balled in London
by the Travellers* Club, an incident which Labouchere had
broadcast with great glee.

In the Cape Parliament, where Rhodes had ruled for five years
as the supreme and unchallenged master, the 'mugwumps', as he
had called them, sat in judgment upon him. After long and
acrimonious debates, Parliament resolved to nominate a Select
Committee to investigate the Raid and Rhodes' activities. Three
former members of Rhodes' Cabinet, Schreiner, Innes and Merri-
man, were among the seven members of this committee. Rhodes
was notified accordingly *in order to afford him an opportunity to
lay before the Committee such evidence or statements as he might
wish to adduce'. Rhodes did not even consider this notification
worthy of a reply. The findings of the Committee in a majority
report which filled yoo-odd pages were summarised in the
concluding sentence:

They are reluctantly forced to the conclusion . . * that the part
taken by him [Rhodes] in the organization which led to the inroad
headed by Dr Jameson, was not consistent with his duty as Prime
Minister of the Colony.

About the verdict Rhodes did not care. His one fear was that
the Cape Parliament would try to deprive him of the Charter.
Merriman introduced a motion that the Chartered Company was

[3*4]

. * . -ALL BUT THE BOILS

'not consistent with the peace and prosperity of South Africa*,
and that the Queen should be asked for 'the revocation or altera-
tion of the Charter*. The motion was defeated by a large majority
60 votes to ii and principally through the intervention of
Schreiner, who concluded a masterpiece of oratory with the words:

... I would just say that nothing . . . has caused me in any way to
waver in the estimate I hold as to the motives of Mr Rhodes. Mis-
guided though they were, they were the highest of motives. The
supreme powers that Mr Rhodes has are fit to adorn a position of
the highest eminence and I am sorry to think that these great powers
have not been coupled in this matter with more respect for what is
right and what is wrong. . . . The aim of Mr Rhodes was a high one.
I wish it had been a right one.

No friendship did Rhodes miss more not did any condemnation
cause him greater grief than that of Schreiner. All that he felt
for his former friend he put down in a letter which he wrote to
him from the veld in Rhodesia:

... I want to tell you that you need not fear as to the North, the
people are fond of me and I will fulfil every pledge I gave in the
House as to closer union and similar laws and eventual union.

You said once 'supposing you died'. I am dead in a way but
everything will be carried out as I foretold by my presence here.
I am not going to die physically. I am not going to run away from
Africa. I will remain here unofficially and carry out the big idea, . . .

You will say why did you not speak to me? I reply I was not
going to mix you up. . . . Why did you not counsel waiting for the
future? My reply is that Kruger is temporary* . . .

I write this to you because you can give me nothing . . . and it
gives me an opportunity of expressing my thoughts and clearing
some doubts in my mind. ... I have only one regret. I am afraid my
conduct has caused division in your family. Your mother must be
a lovable woman. I am afraid she has too high an opinion of myself . . .
I go by the golden rule which you gave me. Possess your soul in
patience. Yrs. C J. Rhodes.

The series of disasters had not yet come to an end. The year
1896 was drawing to a close. One morning Lord Grey, the new
Administrator of Rhodesia, received a telegraphic message from
Cape Town for Rhodes, He knew that a sudden shock might kill

[3*5]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes, whose health had suffered under the excitement of the
past few months. He therefore held back the telegram for several
hours. They were riding together over the veld near Bulawayo*
Rhodes was speaking, as he often did of late, about the many
misfortunes which the year had brought him. It seemed more
difficult than before to tell him the sad news. Lord Grey stam-
mered; ' Well, Mr Rhodes, I am sorry, there is more bad news. . . /
Rhodes stopped the horse. His face turned yellow. Grey told him
news had come from Cape Town that Groote Schuur had burnt
down to the ground. Rhodes sighed with relief and muttered in
a hoarse voice:

'Oh, thank God, thank God! I was afraid that something had
happened to Dr Jim. Oh, thank God, thank God!'

Back from his ride, Rhodes sent a telegram to his architect
asking him to begin immediately with the rebuilding and furnish-
ing of Groote Schuur exactly as it had been before except for the
thatched roof which was to be replaced by shingles.

Unpleasant comments about Rhodes appeared in the English
Press when it became known that several troopers had had to go
to court to obtain compensation from the Chartered Company
for injuries sustained in the Raid. Rhodes, who knew nothing
about the case, was accused of 'meanness towards men who do
his dirty work'. Still harder words were used when the Company
lodged an appeal against the judgment. As soon as Rhodes read
about the accusations he cabled orders to settle the matter
immediately and withdraw the appeal.

Meanness was one fault of which Rhodes was never guilty. In
Rhodesia the demands on his purse were particularly heavy.
Lord Grey once asked him why he spoilt the people, most of
them obviously undeserving cases, by giving away cheques of
20 or even 50 whenever a fellow told Mm a sob-story. Rhodes
explained:

'Well, a man once came to me in Cape Town and said he was
on his beam ends, could I lend him something? I didn't like the
fellow's face and refused, and that same night he committed
suicide. That was a lesson to me; and since then I have never
dared to refuse money to folks who are hard upP

The public accusations of meanness in England, unjustified as
they were, therefore hurt Rhodes to the quick. Not only old foes
like Labouchere but also responsible men Uke Harcourt accused

[3*6]

*. . ALL BUT THE BOILS*

Rhodes In Parliament of sordid financial motives in connection
with the Raid. During a debate on Chamberlain's motion to
nominate a Select Committee of the House of Commons to inquire
into the Raid, Harcourt had called Rhodes *a rogue and a liar'.
Rhodes had moved heaven and earth, particularly through
Hawkesley's 'rather foxy pressure' on Chamberlain, to prevent
such an inquiry. Chamberlain^ in his despair, had taken Harcourt
into his confidence and Harcourt had replied: *To me the black-
mailing part of the transaction is the basest and blackest of the
whole/ Hawkesley also failed in his impudent demand to have
the Committee packed with Rhodes' friends. The only man on
the Committee favourably disposed towards Rhodes was George
Wyndham, 'the delight and ornament of the House, and the
charm of every private society he honoured with his presence*.

Another member nominated to the Committee was Labouchere.
Lord Grey, who as Administrator of Rhodesia was a Government
official, had the audacity to write a letter to Chamberlain who,
though a personal friend, was also the Colonial Secretary and
therefore his chief in which he called the nomination of
Labouchere *an intolerable insult to Rhodes', The letter also
contained another threatening reference to the compromising
cables. This time Chamberlain would not allow himself to be
brow-beaten since he knew that he had Harcourt on his side and
with him the Liberals.

Still thinking that he had Chamberlain *in his pocket', Rhodes
was anxious to take Harcourt 'on the personal*. He knew that he
would not be able to silence him, but perhaps he would be able
to put him in a more lenient frame of mind.

Rhodes was never a great letter- writer. He preferred to conduct
his correspondence by telegrams which excluded any emotional
outbursts. When he did write a letter, and personally at that, it
was a matter of the greatest importance. Much to the surprise of
his secretary, he asked for pen, ink and paper to be brought to
him and began to write a letter to the Right Honourable Sk
WilHam Harcourt, M.P., Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition:

. . I should be sorry to think that you thought I was 'capable but
not honest'. I have tried to unite South Africa and no sordid motive
has influenced me.

You might say why do I write, certainly not to mitigate your
censure, but in case we come to grief I wish you to know that I feel

[3*7]

RHODES OF AFRICA

that, whatever you have said, you have said it from a sense of public
duty, and that I hope you will understand in the future that I under-
stand the reasons of your censure 9 though bitter, and I am still
pleased to think that you had an affection for me. But remove from
your mind the idea of sordid motive. . . .

I am minded to tear this up, but the outlook is gloomy, and I
would not like you to misunderstand me. If I get through, well,
tear this up; if I do not, I think when you are sitting in that smoking
room at Rothschild's you will be pleased to think that I understood
your reasons, but I could not go out from here to an uncertainty
without saying, blame me as you like but do not do the cruel thing
of attributing my conduct to sordid motives. Good-bye.

You make one mistake the Dutch in Africa are not all with
Kruger, and my action was not English v. Dutch. But we would
not have the German element, and the Pretorian Government must
go.

Rhodes was .right in saying that the outlook was gloomy. The
Chartered Company, which Rhodes had still prevented from
being declared insolvent, now faced final catastrophe. The
Matabele were in open revolt; rinderpest was devastating the
country; famine was taking its toll throughout the North; no
gold had been found; the settlers were dissatisfied and on the
point of quitting; the Company lacked the most urgent means,
all fresh financial sources had been cut off and Chartered shares
were almost worthless, Rhodes therefore had every reason to
lament: *I feel like Job, all but the boils/

When Rhodes had travelled to Salisbury from Beira in April
18965 he had seen the veld covered with the skeletons of thousands
of cattle, all -victims of the rinderpest. And by the precautions
which most settlers had taken to fortify their homesteads he knew
that Rhodesia was in flames, set alight by a Matabele rising. It was
bitter news to him. Though Rhodes had now been in close contact
with Natives for more than a quarter-century, he still did not
have any knowledge of their mentality. For him they were
'children, just emerging from barbarism*. Yet he realised that
something positive would have to be done to solve the Native
problem:

, . . They are increasing enormously: their locations are too small
for them. The old diminution by pestilence and wars has ceased. We
have put nothing in the place of their old tribal war and intrigue

*. . 9 ALL BUT THE BOILS 5

which were excellent things in their way to keep their minds
employed. We have instead placed canteens in their midst and never
taught them the dignity of labour. . . .

One of the main reasons for discontent in the country, which
certainly did not contribute towards teaching the Natives *the
dignity of labour', was the existence of slavery which had been
introduced by the Company and about which the British Resident,
Sir Richard Martin, later reported to the High Commissioner:
'Compulsory labour does undoubtedly exist in Matabeleland if
not in Mashonaland. . . . Labour procured by the various Native
Commissioners for the various requirements of the Government
[Company], mining companies and private persons ... a labour
system synonymous with slavery. . . /

Indunas began to rouse their people from their lethargy by telling
them that they had not really been beaten and that Lobengula was
still alive. The Matabele listened joyfully to anyone willing to give
them a lead. After Lobengula's death they had been left, as Selous
had stated at the time, like a swarm of bees bereft of their queen*.
They had lost their king, their leader, the father of their nation.
They had been robbed of their cattle; their huts had been burnt
down to make room for the settlers and for mining camps or had
just been left empty. Homeless, starving and sick, destitute and
hopeless, they had nowhere to go. The Company had expro-
priated their land and deprived them of all ownership rights.
Only two Matabele in the whole country, who had bought garden
plots from the Company, still possessed any soil. The Matabele
masses had finally been crammed into a 'location* situated in the
worst part of the country which was devoid of fertile soil, water
and game and where fever made life impossible. A British official
described this territory as 'graveyards but not homesteads'. More-
over, after Lobengula's death, the Company had appropriated all
the cattle of the country without investigating property rights.
And, worst of all, the white police had been replaced by Mashonas
who searched for cattle bearing the Company's brand-mark with
systematic cruelty.

Reports told of the massing of large impis and from all parts of
Matabeleland came the sound of war-cries; Tshayai Bu/a/a beat
them, kill them* At first single settlers were shot. Then whole
white families were massacred*

[3*9]

RHODES OF AFRICA

The settlers blamed the Tour RV for the dreadful events in
Rhodesia: Rhodes, Rinderpest, Raid and Rebellion.

Rhodes was less interested in investigating the causes of the
uprising than in suppressing it as quickly and cheaply as possible.
With the help of Lord Grey he organized in Salisbury and
Bulawayo volunteer detachments of settlers, including many of
his pioneers. Bulawayo with its 4,000 inhabitants was besieged
by an army of 15,000 Matabele warriors, among them some of
Lobengula's elite troops which he had kept in reserve at the time
of the invasion of Matabeleland. A relief column of volunteers
under Colonel Plumer was sent to Bulawayo, defeated this
Matabele army and thus relieved the beleaguered town. The
British Government had sent out a detachment of regular British
troops from Mafeking and insisted that the Rhodesian volunteer
corps should be put under the command of regular British
officers.

Rhodes, though still suffering from frequent attacks of malaria,
left Salisbury with one of the volunteer columns towards the
middle of April* He was in one of his worst moods. According
to his calculations every day of this unforeseen war was costing
the Company 4,000. In view of the insolvent state of the
Company he would not be able to finance the campaign for long.

During the march into Matabeleland, Rhodes kept to himself.
He always pitched his tent two or three miles away from the
camp. He wanted to be alone because he hated the usual officers*
mess conversations.

In his detachment were four colonels and soon they began to
argue about seniority. Rhodes ended the argument by saying:
'Gentlemen, I am a colonel too, honorary colonel of the Kimberley
Light Horse, and you'll think me a funny fellow I am a funny
fellow but you must remember I am one of Her Majesty's Privy
Councillors and therefore I am naturally the senior of all of you.
And so that's settled!' His impulsive behaviour did not increase
his popularity with the warrior caste. From Whitehall came a
cable: 'Hear you have appointed yourself Colonel Wire explana-
tion/ Rhodes did not reply.

Throughout the march he rode in front of the troops, which
was not without danger since several attacks from Matabele
snipers had taken place. He was asked rather to keep with the
main body or in the rear. Rhodes replied: If I am in front, they

[350]

. . . ALL BUT THE BOILS

will all aim at me and all miss; while if I ride behind, I may be
hit by accident/

His detachment soon came under fire. The Matabele had by
now learnt the proper use of fire-arms and the dum-dum bullets
of their elephant guns were particularly feared. During the first
attack by the Matabele, in the old Zulu tradition of massed frontal
rushes, Rhodes walked calmly along the lines of his troops as
though unaware of the danger around him.

Clad as usual in white flannel trousers, of which Tom even in
this campaign had to see that there was a fresh pair ready every
morning, Norfolk jacket and large grey slouch-hat, Rhodes
offered a good target for the bullets which whistled about him.
Rhodes was unarmed; a hunting-crop was all he carried. A
desperate 'Colossus' a colossus with clay feet, ruined, facing
bankruptcy, 'hunted, hounded and harassed', derobed of his
power, abandoned by most of his friends and mocked by his
enemies was he trying to find a bullet for a melodramatic
exit?

When the rain of Bullets became denser, Rhodes no longer
pretended to enjoy the battle. Later he confessed to Garrett: *I
was in a funk all the time and more afraid to be thought
afraid/

He soon learnt from experienced troopers how to take cover.
He still thought that it was unbecoming for him to throw himself
to the ground. Once, when a* bullet almost hit him, he turned to
his secretary almost apologetically:

'D'you know, it was a very near thing. I might have been hit

in the stomach very unpleasant I should have been very

an g r y I wa s never in such a funk in my life hit in the

stomadh Absurd, isn't it, how you can't help ducking

Not a bit of good- *

The Matabele were, of course, mowed down like ripe corn by
the machine-guns. Rhodes led an attack himself against the ktaal
of a Native chief, marching in front of the troops and wildly
swinging his riding-crop. In trying to escape, the encircled Natives
ran straight into the machine-guns, which within a few minutes
slaughtered more than seventy of them, like rats' as Rhodes
proudly announced.

After the "battle' there was an argument in the camp about the
number of Natives killed* *Very well/ said Rhodes, 'we'll count

133X]

RHODES OF AFRICA

them again! 3 Alone, ignoring the darkness of the night and the
possibility of an ambush, Rhodes climbed up the steep hill to the
'battle scene* and counted the bodies by walking from, corpse to
corpse.

Even hardened old troopers were shocked when they heard
Rhodes, after the first big encounter, speak of his own troops'
casualties in this cynical way: * You'll admit that for 300 men
who went out to fight the Natives numbering about 6,000, the
record of a butcher's bill of about 75 is a very fair one.' His first
question after every encounter was: 'How many Natives were
killed?' Once one of the subalterns answered: 'Very few, sir, the
Natives threw down their arms, went on their knees and begged
for mercy.' Rhodes looked at the young officer as though he had
not understood him: 'Well, you should not spare them. You
should kill all you can, as it serves as a lesson to them when they
talk things over by their fires at night. They count up the killed
and say so and so is dead and so and so is no longer here and
they begin to fear you.'

An old Native chief had told Rhodes: 'You may wipe out the
Matabele but you cannot make dogs of them.' He remembered
these words when he arrived in Bulawayo, where the three
columns met and General Sir Frederick Carrington took over
the command. The military position had become impossible. In
spite of their many defeats strong Matabele forces had retreated
in full order into the Matopo Hills. Nature had given them a
fortress, stronger and better built than could have been designed
by military genius. There they were well protected from the
murderous mower-guns of the white man. They had brought
with them into the caves their women and children and sufficient
food to last them until the next harvest. There was no longer a
single Matabele to be seen. From their inaccessible natural fortress
they had brought the offensive of the British troops to a complete
standstill.

The rainy season was about to begin and no military action
would be possible for months. Carrington decided that all he
could do was to break up the campaign and start again later with
a stronger force of regular troops consisting of at least 5,000
men.

If the General had his way the consequences, Rhodes realized,
would be a still longer campaign costing between 4 million and

[33*]

. . . ALL BUT THE BOILS*

/5 million and leading to the irreparable ruin of the Company as
well as his own bankruptcy. After long arguments Carrington
agreed to give Rhodes a chance by leaving the troops there for
a few more weeks but declined to take any responsibility.

Rhodes still lived in his own tent, two miles away from the
main body and not only fully visible to the enemy from the hills
but within easy range of their bullets.

In those days of solitude a resurrection took place within
Rhodes. He found the way back to himself. He had overcome his
despondency and felt his old strength of mind return to him. The
wildly beating heart reminded him in sleepless nights of the short
span of life left to him. Not more than fifty years at the most, he
was certain, were allotted to him. Only six years remained. Faster
and faster he would have to go. This expensive war would have
to be brought to an end so that he could continue and finish the
great work of which he had dreamt for the last twenty years, 'to
paint this map red, British red*. 'Cape to Cairo Cape to Cairo
. . . British red British red. . . .* What a wonderful feeling to be
a Britisher! Once, in juvenile enthusiasm, he had believed that
one could Eliminate the "British Factor" from South Africa'.
How stupid he had been! No part of Africa was left in perpetuity
to be ruled by pygmy races. Only the English race was now
striving, and would be likely to continue doing so in the future
by her most practical and effective work, to spread justice, liberty

and peace over all parts of the world Was not the English

race God's chosen instrument for bringing Justice, Liberty and
Peace?

Thus Rhodes had turned into a true Jingo, a natural develop-
ment foreseen by Britain's Jingoes who had seen in him the
incarnation of their creed.

One night, when Lord Grey had come over from Bulawayo to
spend a few days with him in his outpost, Rhodes, clad only in
his flannel nightshirt, woke him up. Rubbing his eyes, Grey
inquired: 'What's the matter, Rhodes? Is the tent on fire?*

*No, no/ replied Rhodes, and his eyes sparkled, 'but I just
wanted to ask you, have you ever thought how lucky you are to
have been born an Englishman?'

Day and night Rhodes sought for a solution to end this war
and to bring peace to the country so that he could turn again to
his real work. He remembered how during the campaign against

[333]

RHODES OF AFRICA

the Basntos in 1882 General Gordon had wanted to ask the
Basuto indunas to meet him at a pitso conference which he
would attend alone and unarmed, and so pacify his opponents.

He would have to do it to do it alone. He would have to
set everything, including his own life, on this gamble. His life's
work was at stake. It was worth staking one's own life on it.
He would take the indunas and if necessary all the Matabele impis
*on the personal*. As interpreter, he had at his disposal Johann
Colenbrander, a man who had been popular with the Matabele
since he had accompanied Lobengula's envoys to London.
Colenbrander's handyman was a young Swazl, John Groot-

boom.

For six weeks Rhodes waited in his camp to find a Native
capable of persuading the Matabele to take up negotiations.
Through Grootboom he was finally brought into contact with
an ancient witch-like Native woman, one of the wives of Umzili-
gazi, Lobengula's father, though not the mother of the last king.
In her old brain there still lived the memory of the great king's
advice always to live in peace with the White Man. Rhodes put
all his charm to work on this shrivelled old woman, and it was
not long before she fell under his spell. He himself was greatly
impressed by her natural wisdom and gained great respect for her.
He had her photograph taken and this picture, until his death,
hung in his bedroom next to tha:t of Prince Bismarck and of the
Duchess of Sutherknd. Through the old woman and with the
help of Grootboom, Babyaan came to Rhodes' camp and stayed
there. Babyaan told Rhodes that the older indunas were willing to
surrender but, though near starvation, they were afraid of the
young warriors. Rhodes wanted Babyaan to return to the other
side and use his influence as a leading induna. Babyaan, however,
explained: 'No, it's better this way: when they see me sitting here
and getting fatter and fatter every day they'll say: "Look at
Babyaan he fought as long as he thought there was a hope, and
then he surrendered and now he gets fatter every day. Let us go
and do the same.'"

Though Rhodes thought, and told him so, that the old boy's
concern was for his stomach rather than for peace, he admitted
that according to history the stomach rules the destiny of
nations.

Rhodes' patience was taxed to the utmost and his nerves

[334]

". . . ALL BUT THE BOILS*

strained to breaking-point. He was faced by thousands of well-
armed Natives. During the day he could see them distinctly
within shooting distance when they crawled out of their crevices
and caves and from behind the big boulders to look at him
curiously. Without paying any attention to them, Rhodes followed
his daily routine. By going out on his long rides completely un-
armed and accompanied only by Colenbrander and Toni, he
showed them that he was not afraid of them.

In the seventh week his patience was rewarded. In the hills
there appeared a white flag. Rhodes showed no signs of excite-
ment. He took with him Colenbrander, Dr Sauer, Grootboom
and a Johannesburg journalist, V. Stent. Higher and higher they
went, over kopjes,, through dark forests, over stony canyons.
Behind them, as soon as they passed an open space, they would
notice hundreds of heavily armed Matabele crawling out of their
shelters. Rhodes' retreat was cut off. Even now Rhodes showed
tic signs of fear. He knew that he was being watched by thousands
of enemy eyes and that everything depended on his personal
conduct to convince them of his peaceful intentions.

They arrived at the appointed meeting-place, a krge ant-heap.
Should they dismount? Rhodes decided: "Dismount, dismount,
of course. It will give them confidence. They are nervous, too.
How can they know that we haven't prepared an ambush for them
behind th6 hill?'

No signs of the indunas. Grootboom was the first to detect the
white flag high up in the hills, which drew nearer and was
followed by a long procession of Matabele. A flush of excitement
mounted on Rhodes' face. His voice sounded hoarse and strange

when he exclaimed: 'Yes, yes, there they arel There they are

This is one of those moments in life that make it worth living
worth living. . . . There they come!'

They sat down to the indaba in a semicircle; the chiefs in the
middle surrounded by about forty indunas, and with hundreds of
Natives jostling each other in the background. Rhodes sat alone
on a large stone opposite, with Colenbrander behind him and his
other two companions a few yards farther along.

Gradually the din of voices, the clatter of arms, the shuffle of
feet died down. The few seconds of absolute silence increased the
tension on both sides, Rhodes gave them after he had practised
it well with Colenbrander the traditional salute of peace:

[335]

RHODES OF AFRICA

'Mehk *mblopi My eyes are white!'

The indunas rose from the ground and shouted:

'Mehla *mUopi.> 'nkoos Our eyes are white, Chief!"

Natives are great debaters. They delight in oratory. Chief
Somabulane, a member of the royal house, voiced the complaints
of the Matabele in a long speech, which Rhodes did not once
interrupt. When his turn came, Rhodes, through his interpreter,
told them that the Native police would be abolished. It was like
a cry of relief when the indunas echoed their thanks:

'Ea bongo ea bongo \

Rhodes asked Colenbrander to say in his name that all he
wanted to know was: 'Is it peace? Are the eyes white?'

Somabulane declared that they would lay down their arms.
Rhodes tried to control himself but in his excitement he could
not help repeating over and over again 'That's good that's

good He'll send in his arms send in bis arms that's

good *

It became evident during the ensuing negotiations that Rhodes*
influence over the Natives was almost hypnotic. The indunas
expressed their fear that all Rhodes' promises would be forgotten
when Rhodes himself was gone. So he promised to stay with
them until everything was settled. They now called him Baba
father and Umlamula M y Kun%i the 'man who separated the
Fighting Bulls'.

Rhodes thought that they had now completely delivered them-
selves into his hands. He wanted to give them a lecture and
reprimanded them for having killed women and children: *. . . that
wasn't right; that wasn't the deeds of brave men; that was the
work of dogsP

Pandemonium broke out in the ranks of the young warriors.
They pushed forward. Assegais were brandished threateningly.
Somabulane tried to silence them by a few sharp words of com-
mand. He began a new formal speech with accusations that it had
been the White Man who had started slaying women and children.

Colenbrander became worried. He whispered to Rhodes that
he should rather change the subject. Rhodes finally gave way:
'Well, all that is over. And now you have come to make peace/
And all the indunas in unison once more gave assurances of peace.

Triumphantly Rhodes returned to his camp. He had achieved
what those military gentlemen, the experts, had believed to be

[336]

. . . ALL BUT THE BOILS

possible only with an armed force of at least 5,000 men which
would have cost him millions and millions.

The next morning he sent Dr Saner and Stent to Bulawayo, to
announce the conclusion of peace. They had to promise, however,
to keep back the good news for several hours to enable Rhodes
to cable his orders to the Stock Exchange before it became general
knowledge. Even in the hour of triumph Rhodes did not neglect
business!

Rhodes invited several ladies from Bulawayo to his camp to
attend the negotiations which still followed. On one occasion
Lady Grey told Rhodes how much everyone admired the courage,
patience and self-control which he had shown in those past trying
weeks. Rhodes gazed up at the stars with a dreamy look, when
he replied:

* Well, well. I should like to be like Cincinnatus, who gave up
a throne and went and grew cabbages. Such a peaceful life such

a peaceful life And, believe me, I'd grow very good cabbages,

too.'

In the same philosophic vein he told his secretary while riding
through the Matopos:

'There is one thing I hope for you, and that is, that while still
a young man, you may never have everything you want. Take
myself, for instance: I am not an old man, and I don't think there
is anything I want. Fve been P.M. of the Cape, there is De Beers
and the railways, and there is a big country called after me, and
I have more money than I can spend. You might ask: "But
wouldn't you like to be P.M. again?" Well, I answer you very
f a j r ly i should take it if it were offered to me, but certainly don't
crave for it/

While waiting for the conclusion of negotiations Rhodes
explored the Matopos. He was overwhelmed, when coming to
the top of one of the highest hills, by the majestic beauty of the
view. He liked to sit there add look at what he named *the
World's Viewl'

* . . When I die, I mean to be buried here, and I shall have the
bones of those brave men who helped me take the country
brought from Zimbabwe. 3

When he saw the wealth of water rushing down the mountain
in rivers and rivulets he immediately conceived the idea of harness-
ing it and using it to irrigate parts of the 120,000 acres which

[337]

RHODES OF AFRICA

made up the farm he owned in the district. He gave orders to
build a dam with a reservoir holding 50 million gallons of water
to be completed in not longer than a year. He also investigated
the chances of continuing his railway schemes. His technical
adviser was told: * We propose now to go on and cross the centre
just below the Victoria Falls. I should like to have the spray of
the water over the carriages Imagine, sitting in one's compart-
ment and the spray of the Falls splashing against the windows
the train travelling through a curtain of spray of the Victoria
Falls a curtain of spray of the Falls *

Neither Rhodes nor Lord Grey had the right to conclude an
official peace, as Chamberlain, fearing unpleasant surprises, had
made the negotiations subject to the approval of the High Com-
missioner. The Resident Commissioner, Sir Richard Martin,
considered Rhodes' peace-terms too lenient and refused to give
his consent. In a rough scene Rhodes declared to Martin that in
the case of an official veto to his peace-terms Til go back to the
Matabele and throw in my lot with them to carry through my
policy of forgiveness. 5

Martin gave up resistance and sealed the peace pact in a solemn
indaba.

Before Rhodes left Rhodesia towards the end of 1 896 he had to
settle the claims of various settlers for damages suffered as a result
of the war. On this mission he came to the Gwelo district.
Enormous claims had been submitted there for what he knew to
have been primitive huts. Rhodes wrote out cheques without ask-
ing any questions, though he had to pay everything from his
private pocket. Among the settlers he observed an old Scotsman,
a blacksmith, who was standing quietly in a corner. Rhodes asked
him: 'And what do I owe you?" 'Nothing; I've lost nothing/
'Write that man out a cheque for twenty-five pounds. He's the
only man who told me the truth today/

There was still Grootboom to be rewarded. *You have done
a great thing for me. What can I do for you?*

*I would like a horse with a saddle and bridle, sir/

'You'll have much more than that/

*T don't want it. I want to go North to help the missionaries/

Rhodes was touched. He told one of the Company's secretaries:

'Give Grootboom whenever he asks for it 100 acres of land,
a wagon, a span of oxen, twelve cows, a horse and

[338]

*. . * ALL BUT THE BOILS*

Grootboom still refused to accept the gift. Shortly afterwards
he left Rhodesia and was never heard of again. When Rhodes
heard of Grootboom' s departure he scribbled a few lines on an
old envelope. After his death when his Last Will dealing with
millions was opened, his friends were astonished to read of a
legacy to one John Grootboom of *ioo acres of land, a wagon,
a span. . . .'

At the end of 1896, before leaving for England to attend tiie
Committee of Inquiry, Rhodes went to the Cape in spite of the
warnings of his friends that there might be demonstrations against
him. Stepping on to the gangway at Port Elizabeth he noticed a
black mass of people on the quay. Immediately he regretted not
having listened to his friends' advice.

Walking down the gangway, however, he was deafened by the
cheers of thousands. They removed the horses from his carriage
and forty men drew it to the Town Hall.

The old Duke of Cambridge had told Rhodes shortly after the
Raid: 'Never mind, my boy, you'll live it all down in five years'
time/ Not even a year had passed and the people of the Cape
were acclaiming him wildly. These demonstrations, and also those
which followed in Kimberley and even in the citadel of Afrikaner-
dom, Paarl, were spontaneous and sincere. They were not, how-
ever, as Rhodes wished to believe, an expression of political
sympathy. South Africans, no matter to which section of the
populace they belong, have always the greatest respect and
admiration for deeds of courage and determination, and the
applause for Rhodes was meant as a sign of recognition for the
outstanding bravery he had shown in facing unarmed the hordes
of Matabele In the Matopos.

In his first public speeches after his return Rhodes followed
the recommendations of his friends by showing discretion and
restraint. They feared demonstrations of protest in Cape Town,
but his reception there was overwhelming. Rhodes, deeply moved,
muttered: *It*s beautiful to see one's fellow-beings feel so kindly

to one Such appreciation as this generally comes after a man

is dead/

Friends had arranged a private luncheon-party for him in
which also a few of his former political followers participated.
With great anxiety they awaited Rhodes* speech, his first political

[339]

RHODES OF AFRICA

utterance since the Raid, from which they expected a clarification
of his attitude towards the Raid. Their expectations were sur-
passed. Rhodes acknowledged his fault:

... I do not so much regret joining in an attempt to force President
Kruger into a juster and more reasonable policy . . . but what has
been a burden to me is that I was Prime Minister at the time, and
that I had given a promise that I 'would not do anything incom-
patible with the joint position I held as Director of the Chartered
Company and Premier of the Cape Colony. On every ground I was
bound to resign if I took such a course as assisting in a revolution
against an officially friendly State; and I did not.

Here Rhodes made a long and dramatic pause. The tension
among his listeners became evident. Some leaned forward so that
not a single word should be lost. Rhodes continued in a softer
voice and speaking extremely slowly:

I can only say that I will do my best to make atonement for my
error by untiring devotion to the best interests of South Africa.

Thunderous applause followed. Rhodes promised, since the
speech had been 'off the record', to repeat his 'confession of error
and promise of atonement' at a public meeting in the City Hall
the same night.

The wild enthusiasm and flattering words of welcome had
intoxicated Rhodes. Not once did he look at the notes which he
had put on the table when he started to speak at the City Hall.
After the applause which greeted his words, repeated from his
first speech after the Raid in Kimberley, that 'his public life was
not, as some people had believed, at an end but was just begin-
ning*, he seemed to forget everything around him.

It was the old Rhodes, unrepenting, aggressive and obstinate.
Defiantly he accused Kruger of suppressing the Uitlanders and
threatened him with vengeance. This part of his speech did not
arouse as much angry comment as did, especially in England, his
phrase: *I am going home to face the unctuous rectitude of my
countrymen. , . /

Did he not say once that he never prepared a speech and could
not the expression 'unctuous rectitude' be excused as having
merely slipped from his tongue? 'No, no,' replied Rhodes with
a wink, 'that I had ready three days before I spoke/

[340]

CHAPTER XVII

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

MOST of the first-class cabins on the mailship Dunvegan Castle
bound for England from South Africa at the beginning of
January 1897 were unoccupied. The passengers missed the usual
gaiety on board and by the time the ship approached the Equator
everyone had become too lazy to do anything but gossip* With
a number of eminent people on board such as 'the two multi-
millionaires' Rhodes and Beit, a Cabinet Minister Mr *WilF
Schreiner, his sister the world-famous South African authoress
Olive Schreiner, and the redoubtable Dr Rutherford Harris,
sufficient variety of gossip was assured.

The trip also provided something strongly reminiscent of those
exciting adventures of Sherlock Holmes running in the Strand
Magazine at the time. Olive Schreiner had spent most of the
journey lying alone in a deck-chair on the upper deck. Everyone
on board was therefore astonished when one morning the stout
little woman came tripping along breathlessly and stormed the
bridge. Flourishing her sunshade she made straight for the
captain. From her frantic tale he gathered that someone had
burgled her cabin, had forced open one of her trunks and stolen
from it the manuscript of her latest work, Tirooper Peter Halket of
Mashonaland* And she knew, she said, she knew for certain that
no one could have committed the crime except one of Mr Rhodes*
henchmen, since only he was interested in suppressing this book
with its sensational disclosures of the murder, the rape, the
robbery and the injustice committed by Mr Rhodes' gang of
marauders in Mashonaland. Soothingly the captain suggested that
before any steps were taken a thorough search should be made of
all her luggage. Stewards unpacked her large trunk, on the bottom
of which, she said, she had put the manuscript before she left
home. Nothing was found. There was some more luggage but
she ridiculed the idea of finding the book there. Finally some
other trunks were opened. At the bottom of one of her smaller
bags the manuscript was found and handed to her. f He must

RHODES OF AFRICA

have put it there as soon as he learnt that I had found him out/
she said. Nothing would convince her that no one could have
tampered with the lock, 'Young man, you don't know with what
sort of people we've to deal/

After this incident Olive Schreiner explained to a few sympa-
thetic listeners that she felt it her Christian duty to expose Cecil
Rhodes, of whom her Peter Halket said: 'He's death on niggers,
is Rhodes! . . * And she quoted to them from her book: 'Why, if
God Almighty came [to Mashonaland] and hadn't half a million
in shares, they wouldn't think much of him.'

Between their whiskies the passengers whispered what an
extraordinary woman this Olive Schreiner was. There was a time
when she had adored Rhodes as the saviour of South Africa. The
fact that Olive Schreinet was not on speaking terms with her
brother Will also aroused much comment. She took no notice
of him though he was observed to be trying hard to approach
her. It had not escaped observation either, that the relationship
between Rhodes and his former colleague Schreiner was of a
peculiar nature. It was amusing to watch how Schreiner, whenever
he saw Rhodes coming in his direction, quickly walked away to
another part of the ship.

Schreiner, always upright and true, was still struggling with
his conscience whether to abandon his love for Rhodes. Politically
he had completely divorced himself from Rhodes, but he still
believed that he might remain friends with him. Lately strong
doubts about Rhodes' personal honesty had gnawed at him:
Rhodes, 'gaming with men's lives and the fate of a country',
would, as he had been told recently, have made gigantic profits
if the Raid had gone according to plan. If these suspicions about
Rhodes' financial interest in the Raid proved to be true, then
Rhodes would cease to exist for him also as a person. He purposely
avoided Rhodes because to his lawyer's mind it appeared unseemly
as a witness at the coming inquiry that he should expose himself
to being perhaps unconsciously influenced by Rhodes.

Rhodes, however, was in high spirits. In his ears there still
lingered the ovations he had received at a civic reception in
Cape Town. It was music to his love-thirsty soul to hear the
Mayor end his speech with the words: * We, as friends, say to our
guest, "You have done great things for Africa and we want you
back again!"'

[342]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

No, Rhodes was not worried. Every day he rehearsed with
Dr Harris, Garrett and his two secretaries answers to possible
questions at the Inquiry.

As soon as he arrived in London, however, Rhodes seemed to
show signs of nervousness. During the first few days he calmed
down, at least outwardly, and even became a little boisterous
when he proudly announced: *AU the bus drivers touched their
hats to me. So I know I am all right.' But his friends knew better.
Rhodes was far from popular in England and they therefore asked
him again to declare that the phrase 'unctuous rectitude' had been
a misunderstanding and that what he had said was in fact 'anxious
rectitude'. *No/ Rhodes replied, *I am going to stick to the
"unctuous rectitude"/

He became angry when Garrett suggested that before the
Inquiry began he should express his regrets about the Raid:
Tve already said so much; but I'm not going on saying it, and
crawling in the dust to please you or anybody. So I told some
Dutch constituents of mine who made advance, after abusing one
like a pickpocket at the time. "Oh/' they said, "do say you
repentl Only tell us you repent!" "That's my business/* I
answered. I know what my idea was no race feeling at all
and what my motive was; and it all went wrong, and I and others
made mistakes, and that's all about it/

All Rhodes' friends, such as Rosebery, Wyndham and
Rothschild, tried privately to use their influence on Chamberlain
to drop the Inquiry at the last minute. Immediately after his
arrival Rhodes went to see Chamberlain. For two hours and
twenty minutes they hurled threats, reproaches and accusations
at each other. Chamberlain, possibly fearing that misinterpreta-
tions of his words might follow or that Rhodes would once again
resort to blackmail, insisted on having the Colonial Under-
secretary, Lord Selborne, a son-in-kw of Lord Salisbury's,
present at the interview,

Rhodes, full of his old self-assurance, told Chamberlain with
his usual haughtiness that it would be best for all concerned if
the whole Committee were scrapped. It was no longer necessary,
he said, since the Cape inquiry had completely exhausted the issue.

Trying as a last resort to take Chamberlain c oti the personal*,
he came forward with one of his virtuoso pieces:

*. . . What is my reputation or your reputation compared with

[343]

RHODES OF AFRICA

the interests of the country? In twenty years you'll be gone,
snuffed out, but the country will remain. . . /

Chamberlain, himself far too accomplished in the art of playing
on other people's emotions, coldly told Rhodes that it was
impossible to scrap the Inquiry, since its abandonment would
cause greater harm to the country than if it took place.

His real reasons, which Chamberlain did not reveal to him, had
nothing to do with Rhodes. Chamberlain needed the Inquiry in
order to clear himself of the charges, which had turned from
whispered rumours into loud accusations, that he had not only
sanctioned the Raid but had been its real instigator. The Liberal
papers said so very plainly. Some verses by Sir Wilfred Lawson
threw Chamberlain into a rage:

If Jameson makes a wicked raid,

And strikes a treacherous blow,
On searching records, I'm afraid

You'll find it worked by 'Joe'.

If bullying Kruger is the scheme,

At which we're never slow,
The wretched business, it would seem,

Is all arranged by 'Joe*.

Lord Salisbury was an old, sickly man. Chamberlain saw his
great chance and was determined that it should not escape him.
Premier of England? As such, an unblemished political reputation
was necessary. He would see to it that he came out of the Inquiry
immaculate, no matter what happened to that 'blackmailing
blackguard'.

When Rhodes left the Colonial Office, his face purple and his
hair dishevelled, his secretary knew that a stortn was brewing.
On the way home Rhodes threw his top-hat on the floor of the
carriage and with a deep sigh said to himself: 'The man who wrote
"It is possible for a new country to be connected by cable too soon
with Downing Street" knew well what he was talking about/

When he got back to his hotel he found Dr Jameson's old
servant awaiting him. He had come unknown to his master, who
had been released from prison before his time was up because of
sickness. The doctor was fretting as Mr Rhodes had neither
visited him nor sent a message. 'And*, added the servant, 'I

[344]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

thought I should let you know, but please, Dr Jameson must not
hear that I came to you.*

Rhodes jumped into his carriage. His eyes glistened suspiciously
when, standing at the doctor's bedside, he clasped his thin hand
and said: 'Both of us have had a rough time, but you had a rougher
time than I!'

The Grand Committee Room in the Palace of Westminster,
where the Inquiry took place beginning on Friday, 5 February
1897, and continuing for the next five months, was cold and bare.
The only spot of colour was contributed by a huge map of Africa
on one of the yawning white walls. On one side of the room was
a long, horseshoe-shaped table with numerous chairs around it,
a single small table the 'dock* in the middle and behind it the
table of the counsel for the 'defence*.

In the back of the hall, a large space had been allotted to the
Press. A few seats were reserved for the Peers, in the front row
of which the Prince of Wales, spruce and elegant as always and
appearing rather tired from the strain of the night before, could
be seen passing his time in chatting to the right and left as he
waited for the Committee to arrive. Just like the Lords Rosebery
and Rothschild next to him, he seemed to consider the whole
business of the Inquiry a huge joke.

When the sixteen members of the Committee had finally taken
their seats the air immediately became charged with electrifying
tension. Stead, sitting in the front row, whispered to his former
apprentice Garrett: 'Over the door of this room they should have
inscribed the words of the American statesman W. J. Bryan:
"You shall not crucify mankind on a Cross of Gold!"'

When the Chairman called upon the Right Honourable Cecil
John Rhodes to take his seat as witness at the small table, those
who had known him in the days of his glory only eighteen months
before were shocked. Others who had never seen him before
were bitterly disappointed. Why, was this indeed Mr Rhodes, the
multi-millionaire, the 'uncrowned King of Africa*, the Colossus',
the man whom the African Natives had dubbed 'the man who
swallows countries for his breakfast*, who 'thought in continents*,
the ruler over South Africa's diamonds and gold, the 'Elizabethan
prodigy*, the man who had boasted that he could 'square* anybody,
the conqueror of half a continent, the great Empire-builder!

[345]

RHODES OF AFRICA

The unfavourable Impression was increased when Rhodes read
a declaration in his squeaky voice, jumping from one leg to the
other and reading so quickly that he stumbled over words and
sometimes became almost inaudible. The statement was not very
elucidating and consisted mostly of generalities. Only at the end
did he gain any attention.

... I must admit that in all my actions I was greatly influenced by
my belief that the policy of the present Government of the South
African Republic was to introduce the influence of another foreign
Power into the already complicated system of South Africa, and
thereby render more difficult in the future the closer union of the
different states,

Harcourt smiled. Labouchere sneered. Chamberlain, monocle
in his eye, seemed engrossed in a file. 'The German bogy once
again', a foreign journalist commented to his neighbour under
his breath. Rhodes, in spite of his daily practice during his voyage
to England, cut a deplorable figure under cross-examination. His
'usual grandeur or grandiosity of self-assurance* was gone. His
answers were evasive, verbose and not to the point. When driven
into a tight corner he often replied sharply: 'You want an answer.
Well, I think you had better get it from the High Commissioner.'

The lunch hour arrived. So as not to lose time the Committee
did not adjourn but had light refreshments served on trays from
the buffet of the House. In front of Rhodes was placed a meagre
ham sandwich decoratively sprinkled with a a few leaves of
cress, and a large tankard of foaming stout. Everyone's eyes were
focused on Rhodes who munched his sandwich unconcernedly
and took long draughts of beer with obvious enjoyment. His
pleasure in so simple a repast immediately won him the sympathy
of people who had probably fancied that a multi-millionaire fed
exclusively on caviare and champagne. Even the ever-hostile
'Labby' remarked: C I hate the sight of this Jerry Empire builder,
but I can't help liking his ham sandwich and tankard of stout.'

After the luncheon interval Rhodes seemed to undergo a
complete change in his behaviour and attitude and even in his
physical appearance. It was as if he had taken off his coat, pulled
up his sleeves and said: come, now, let us fight this thing out.
During lunch he had studied the faces of the men who were
sitting in judgment over him. The shadow of a smile had flitted

[346]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

over bis face. la the evening he explained to friends: 'Looking
at those faces I could not help thinking that there was not a single
man among them who in Africa wouldn't be my subordinate.'

Rhodes quickly gained the upper hand. He seemed to be trying
to take the whole Committee 'on the personal' by ingratiating
remarks of repentance such as: 'I dare say it's morally wrong.*
He emphasized that he wished to take full responsibility for all
that had happened but that he could not have known all the details,
busy as he had been in his triple position:

... so that if some of my answers appear to be evasive, I may say
they are not evasive through my shirking of responsibility; they are
only evasive because I do not remember the particular telegrams;
probably they were not submitted to me; but yet I do not wish to
say I repudiate responsibility for them at all.

Whenever an awkward question was asked, Rhodes would
reply: 'That's a fair question a very fair question/ but his
answer would nevertheless be non-committal. When Harcourt
referred to the 'manufactured revolution' Rhodes appeared
indignant. 'Well/ Harcourt retorted calmly, 'we'll call it a sub-
sidized revolution.' When a question became too embarrassing
for him Rhodes would ask for time to refresh his memory and the
Committee would, of course, never receive the answer. A certain
telegram? *Oh, it may seem absurd to you, but I haven't read the
Blue Book containing the correspondence quoted.'

He was as smooth as an eel and at times it was amusing to
watch how he played with the Committee. Harcourt, referring to
the 'order given to Dr Jameson a day before the Raid to "secure
telegraphic office silence*", wanted to know what it meant.
Rhodes replied: 'I do not know what it means. It seems absurd,
doesn't it?' This was too much for Harcourt, who shouted angrily:
'It is not at all absurd, Mr Rhodes, because it was the thing that
was done.'

What about certain telegrams allegedly implicating the Colonial
Office? *Oh, , these telegrams. . . . They are in the hands of my
legal advisers. . . ." Rhodes would not allow them to be produced;
he stated that he would refuse to answer questions which might
prejudice a third party and, besides, he added with a smile, he
really did not remember their contents.

[347]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Here would have been a chance for Rhodes to exonerate him-
self. By tabling the telegrams incriminating Chamberlain he could
prove that he had acted not only in conjunction with the Colonial
Office but as an agent of the Government. Why then did Rhodes
make every effort not to involve Chamberlain in the Raid and
the Johannesburg revolt? What made Rhodes play guardian angel
to the Colonial Secretary instead of using him as a scapegoat?
These were questions that were on everyone's lips.

The Committee swallowed Rhodes' evasions and all his circum-
locutions, evident untruths, and direct lies without the slightest
attempt from any side to throw light on the matter.

On the third day Harcourt gave up in disgust. Labouchere now
stepped in. Labopchere's hatred for Rhodes was well known. In
his journal he had never minced words, as could be seen from the
damages and fines he had to pay regularly for libel suits. Now at
the Inquiry, under the protection of his parliamentary immunity,
an even greater unloading of dirt was expected.

Labouchere's cross-examination resembled 'the act of an
infuriated bull-terrier who barked at a cat sitting behind a gate
and was so occupied with his vocal efforts that he failed to see
the open gate by which he might have caught his feline enemy'.

He asked Rhodes do2ens of questions about the financial aspects
of the Raid which might have brought some elucidating replies.
Often Labouchere was on the tight track, but he was no match
for Rhodes, who was able to answer such questions and yet say
nothing. Thus he replied to Labouchere: 'Yes, I had sold
Chartered shares before the Raid, because I needed money for
my railway and telegraph lines. Surely there was nothing wrong
in selling shares?' It did not occur to Labouchere to demand that
Rhodes should produce his private bank accounts or to summon
through the Stock Exchange all those brokers who had sold and
bought shares on behalf of Rhodes and his friends.

Rhodes did not waver in refusing to answer questions con-
cerning the suppressed telegrams. Labouchere lost his temper.

'Mr Rhodes, at the commencement of your examination you
took an oath to tell not only the truth but the whole truth/

Rhodes, with an expression of great astonishment: 'Did I?*

'Yes, you did, Mr Rhodes.'

'Well, it would depend upon the powers of the Committee.
As to this point of making statements which would bring in the

[348]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

names and affect the positions of third parties, I've thought about
it very carefully, and I do not think I am justified in answering
that. . . /

Labouchere gave up. Later when the ordeal was over Rhodes
no longer felt any malice towards Tabby". He told Stead: *Labby
fills for me the role of a court jester in olden times. . . . He is my
court jester, and he does his fooling with a will; and what is more,
so far as I am concerned, free, gratis and for nothing/

When they saw that neither Harcourt, the great lawyer, nor
Labouchere, the great hater, could get anything out of Rhodes,
the Committee dismissed Rhodes. Everyone was apparently
relieved.

For six days Rhodes had sat in the witness chair, having
answered about 2,000 questions. His last triumph had come at
the end when he addressed the Committee in words of heavy
sarcasm dressed in a coating of urbane politeness:

* Would you like to have me up again? I'll be happy to come,
but you must remember that my work in Rhodesia keeps me very
busy/

He was not asked to appear again. They had had quite enough
of him. When he came home to his hotel on the last day Dr
Sauer asked him why everyone, even members of the Opposition,
were treating him so leniently, hardly ever putting questions to
him which might compromise certain persons. Rhodes smiled
when he told Sauer:

'They dare not do it; we also have a cat in the bag which, if
we let it out, would show that one of their big men knew all
about it/

The 'big man* was not Chamberlain but Lord Rosebery, with
whom Rhodes, at a time when the Liberals were stiU in power
and Rosebery was Prime Minister, had discussed the planned
Raid. Rosebery had probably warned Harcourt about the possi-
bility that the former Liberal Government might be dragged in
by Rhodes if Rhodes were pressed too hard.

Beit was the next witness. He cut a most pathetic figure, with
his nerves on edge and always on the point of either crying or
fainting. For one who had always shunned publicity, this public
exposure was a great ordeal and turned into real torture once
Labouchere began to turn on the thumb-sctews of his cross-
examination. Yet Labby failed once more, since he either indulged

[349]

RHODES OF AFRICA

in generalities to which he could expect no concrete answer from
the witness, or went into details without knowing how to extract
the truth.

General amusement followed when Dr Rutherford Harris
appeared in the witness chair and told such tall stories that the
Committee, although already accustomed to perjured testimony,
was amazed. And whenever it suited his purpose he hid behind
his 'defective memory',

Harcourt had to summon all his powers of self-control to
express in parliamentary language the Committee's disgust with
this permanent perjurer: *I suppose,. Dr Harris, that you would
rather not state the exact fractions of what you call truth and of
what is not truth in this evidence of yours?*

Even Flora Shaw allowed her esprit de corps and her loyalty to
Rhodes and to Chamberlain to cause her a sudden loss of memory.
In spite of her telegrams to Rhodes in which she had given him
Chamberlain's messages, she now declared on oath that 'she never
at any time gave the Colonial Office information about the plan
and never at any time received information from the Colonial
Office about the plan'.

Her evidence as well as that of the other witnesses had been
well prepared beforehand. Flora Shaw had discussed her evidence
at some length with Chamberlain and had also been briefed by
Dr Harris. At the end of that day's sitting Harcourt whispered
to Chamberlain: 'Rhodes is not really a clever man, or he would
not have trusted his fate to Dr Rutherford Harris and Flora Shawl'

Rhodes and his friends hoped to tire out the Committee, so
that it would one day adjourn sine die without ever issuing a report
on its findings. The longer the Inquiry lasted the more it moved
away from the real subject of investigation to wit, the Raid and
its instigator and centred instead on Chamberlain and his part
in it.

How far would Chamberlain stick out his neck? that was the
burning question on everyone's lips when he was called to the
witness chair. He categorically denied all knowledge of the Raid:
he had known only that a spontaneous and justified rising of the
malcontent Uitlanders was expected to take place. No collabora-
tion from his side with Rhodes or any of Rhodes' men!

Chamberlain had no alternative but to perjure himself. Accord-
ing to a secret agreement with Rhodes he could not attack Rhodes

[350]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

without bringing on a revengeful disclosure of his implication in
the Raid. The sword of Damocles was hanging over his head
ready to drop at Rhodes* command and end the political life of
Joseph Chamberlain. So as to save his career Chamberlain had
willingly bought Rhodes' discretion for a promise not to deprive
him of the Charter and his Privy Councillorship.

Not only did Chamberlain have to whitewash himself but he
also had to clear the Colonial Office of the charge of active con-
spiracy. Nothing was easier for 'Judas'. He had found his scape-
goats. So as to save face for the Colonial Office he sacrificed three
innocent men: Sir Robert Meade, the chief Permanent Under-
secretary of State for the Colonies, and Chamberlain's right-hand
man; Sir Graham Bower, the Imperial Secretary to the High
Commissioner, both old and merited Civil Service men; and
Rhodes* old friend Captain Newton, the Commissioner of
Bechuanaland,

Sir Robert Meade, as well as old Sir Hercules Robinson, were
excused from appearing as witnesses because of illness. Since
Meade had conducted most of the talks with Flora Shaw and
Dr Harris on Chamberlain's behalf, Chamberlain was happy to
have someone to blame for all the indiscretions committed by the
Colonial Office. Meade through his absence was unable to con-
tradict Chamberlain when he said that he knew nothing about
the negotiations between Meade and Rhodes* party.

Bower became a victim of his loyalty to Rhodes, He had given
him his word of honour before the Raid to keep all his knowledge
of the preliminary conversations and reports absolutely secret.
Bower was a man of honour who would never break his word.
For the same reason of loyal decency he also refused to com-
promise his chief, the High Commissioner, and also refrained
from testifying as a Crown witness against his highest superior,
the Colonial Secretary,

Before the Inquiry Bower had pleaded with Rhodes to have
out all the truth so as to save his, Bower's, reputation, but Rhodes
had refused to *give away the man [Chamberlain] who tried to do
more to help him than any other Colonial Secretary', adding
*FU tell no Hes. Mr Chamberlain can do his own lying if he pleases.
That's not my afEairF

They certainly all lied amply in the end to protect each other
according to their agreement. No one on the Committee had the

[35*]

RHODES OF AFRICA

bright idea of asking for the files of the Colonial Office to be
laid on the table of the Committee, a procedure which would
have cleared up many doubtful points. Everyone did his best to
suppress the truth*

The dramatic climax to the proceedings came when Rhodes*
lawyer Hawkesley appeared before the Committee and was told
by the Chairman: 'We therefore call on you, Mr Hawkesley, to
produce the telegrams/

Not a sound could be heard until Hawkesley pronounced in
a determined voice:

*I can only say, with very great respect. ... I still feel that my
duty compels me to act upon the instructions I have received
from Mr Rhodes ... to make these telegrams not available. . . .*

The Committee had full powers to compel Rhodes to return to
London and to send him and Hawkesley to the Clock Tower for
an indefinite period until they gave up the telegrams. It would
have been still easier to have summoned the cable company to
supply copies.

The Committee had two good reasons for not insisting on
bringing the telegrams to light. If they had used force Rhodes
would have become the great martyr & most undesirable result.
Only recently, it was reported, he had quoted with a salvo of his
ear-splitting staccato laughter, the words of Oliver Wendell
Holmes, thatit was not perhaps so difficult to knock a man down,
but that the trouble was the man might get up and give his assailant
a thrashing. Moreover, foreign politics made it imperative that
under no circumstances should any facts connecting the British
Government with the Raid become known in view of Salisbury's
and the Queen's denials. Britain's position in foreign politics was
far from satisfactory and complications were expected in several
quarters.

The English Press could not be expected to grasp what was
going on behind the scenes of the Committee Room. Especially
in the Liberal papers, but also in Conservative circles, people
expressed their astonishment at the Infamy of the prolonged
masquerade of an inquiry, tempered by mendacity*. Everyone
had the impression and they were not far wrong that 'efforts
were being made to prevent the truth being brought to light*.

It was no easy task for Harcourt, who referred to the Inquiry
as 'the most demoralizing transaction in the 60 years' reign 9 ,

[352]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

to draft the Report of the Committee after it had been sitting
for five months. He endeavoured, as he wrote to Chamberlain,
to 'put the matter as regards yourself and the telegrams in a
shape which I hope you will find satisfactory 5 . About Rhodes,
'that arch-liar', he had not changed his opinion: c . . . the mendacity
of the man is sickening. . . /

All members of the Committee had agreed that it would be
best to terminate the whole matter as quickly as possible before
it developed into something like a British Dreyfus Case. Harcourt
and Chamberlain thus concocted a verdict for the Committee
Report which would satisfy political demands and calm down the
public while at the same time it would give Rhodes no cause to
continue his vendetta by blackmail. It contained a strong censure
of Rhodes for his activities in the Johannesburg revolt, affirmed
his moral responsibility for the Raid and condemned his deception
of the High Commissioner.

The Report also contained a full exoneration of Sir Hercules
Robinson, who for having kept his mouth shut so diplomatically
was raised to the peerage with the title of Lord Rosmead. It gave
Chamberlain and the Colonial Office a clean bill of health,
condemning instead poor Sir Graham Bower. Only Labouchere
dissented and presented a Minority Report in which he was able
to give vent to his feelings. Though many of his colleagues^ on
the Committee agreed with him, they found his condemnation
of Rhodes expressed somewhat harshly: *. . . he abused the high
positions which he held by engaging in a conspiracy in the success
of which his own pecuniary interests were largely involved*.

The report of the Commission was not the end of the cause
ctKbrt. On 26 July a debate on the Colonial Estimates provided
an opportunity for a discussion on the findings of the Inquiry,
There had been rumours that exciting surprises might be expected:
that the Radical members would refuse to accept the Report and
would move for the withdrawal of the Charter from Rhodes*
Company, for the cancellation of Rhodes* P.C. and for orders to
call Hawkesley to the Bar of the House to produce the missing

cables.

The debate showed that the attack by the Radicals was really
aimed at the renegade from their ranks, Chamberlain, the 'Judas*.
Harcourt, on the other hand, defended Chamberlain but refused
to spare Rhodes: \ . . You cannot say as the Roman Emperor

[353]

RHODES OF AFRICA

said, non o/ef; there Is a noisome odour of the Stock Exchange
about it. ... It is a squalid and sordid picture of stock-jobbing
imperialism . . . privateers . . . these unscrupulous men who have
deceived everybody, who have ruined the character of the British
nation for honesty and fair dealing. . . .*

All eyes were fixed on Chamberlain. He sat, as usual, in
sartorial elegance, with his eyes closed* He was certainly not
asleep, and several people in the House knew only too well what
thoughts were probably keeping the Right Honourable Gentle-
man wide awake. In the morning he had been warned that a
certain Member (Maguire) would take the ominous telegrams to
the House. He would keep them in his pocket, to be laid on the
Table of the House at a given signal from a friend of Rhodes* in
the gallery probably Hawkesley in case Chamberlain and his
Party did not repel any attempts by the Opposition against
Rhodes' Charter, his P.C. and his honour.

By now, however, a great number of members of the Opposi-
tion had been persuaded .by Harcourt's criminologistic reasoning
that the mysterious telegrams were nothing but one of Rhodes'
dirty tricks, as was explained in a clause in the Committee^
Report on the insertion of which Harcourt had insisted:

Your Committee fully accept the statements of the Secretary of
State for the Colonies and of the Under Secretary, and entirely
exonerate the officials of the Colonial Office of having been, in any
sense, cognisant of the plans which led up to the incursion of Dr
Jameson's force into the South African Republic. It is clear from
the evidence of Mr Hawkesley, and his letter of 5 February 1896,
that the telegrams in question conveyed the impression that the
action of Mr Rhodes was known and approved at the Colonial
Office. The fact that Mr Rhodes (after having authorized that they
should be shown to Mr Chamberlain) has refused to allow them to
be produced before the Committee leads to the conclusion that he
is aware that any statements purporting to implicate the Colonial
Office contained in them were unfounded, and the use made of them
in support of his action in South Africa was not justified. It cannot
reasonably be doubted, having regard to the use already made of
these telegrams, that they would have been produced to your Com-
mittee if their contents could in any way have relieved Mr Rhodes
or his subordinates from the responsibility now attaching to them*
Chamberlain did not very often use notes. This time when he
rose to speak he took out of his pocket a whole sheaf of closely

[3543

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

written pages. In the dim light of the House the colour of his
complexion resembled that of old parchment.

It was certainly one of the greatest speeches ever rendered in
a place which had been the scene of some of the finest oratory.
Chamberlain was fighting for his political life. His future was at
stake. The prize was Britain's premiership. He did not struggle
wildly like a drowning man. His strokes at the beginning were
composed, skilful, and moderate. And when he at last saw land,
he lashed out at those who were responsible for his cold immer-
sion. His speech was constructed like a Shakespearian monologue
with the main theme of his innocence pronounced in different
keys and various modulations, finally reaching the dramatic
climax with the fanfare-call:

... It is impossible to suppose if you think me such a fool, that
any English minister could be such a knave as to do what is attributed
to me ... that I was myself a party to the Raid, and approved the
policy of which the Raid was a part. . . .

The House remained surprisingly calm and only a few cheers
were heard. They were waiting for Chamberlain's attitude towards
the demand of punishment for Rhodes. It had of course been
expected that he would refuse to support the motion of the
Radicals, but even his intimate followers were surprised that he
should motivate his refusal by whitewashing nay, by paying
tribute to Rhodes, the man who in the Report of the Committee,
signed by Chamberlain, had been declared indirectly *a liar, a
coward and a blackmailer'. Now Chamberlain maintained that
'there has been nothing proved and in my opinion there exists
nothing which affects Mr Rhodes' personal position as a man
of honour. . . /

Harcourt was in a rage over this betrayal. Other Liberals con-
sidered this triumph of Rhodes over Chamberlain the saddest
hour in Britain's parliamentary history. It did not help. The
'Chartered Libertines' had carried a victory over political morality.
The motion of the Radicals was defeated by a majority of 304

to<77 "

In the evening after his oratorical performance, Chamberlain

tried to explain to some of his intimates, or rather to excuse, his
Incomprehensible canonisation of Rhodes, after having only
recently called him openly a 'blackmailer, blackguard and traitor*:

[555]

RHODES OF AFRICA

'Have yon and others thought what would be the consequences
of driving Rhodes to the wall? If in his desperation he joined
forces, with the extreme Dutch element and took advantage of
the prejudice so easily aroused against the "unctuous rectitude"
of a British Government, we could hardly keep the Cape Colony
without a war. Is it worth while to risk this for the satisfaction
of depriving Rhodes of the barren honour of his P.C?*

England's prestige abroad, as a result of the parliamentary
comedy of the Inquiry, had suffered a set-back more serious than
that of losing a war. Le Temps wrote:

The Committee sacrifices everything including the honour of
England, to its desire to preserve the reputation of that meddlesome
and imperious statesman [Chamberlain]. The evil is "wrought and
irreparable. It is now proved that the Queen's Government has
plotted in time of peace the invasion of a friendly country, and that
there is no majority in Great Britain to condemn the crime. It is the
apotheosis of the Birmingham statesman; it is also the abdication
of the conscience of Great Britain. , . .

In Germany Parliament and Press jubilated over 'Perfidious
Albion* which was 'now facing bankruptcy of the Parliamentary
System*. The Berliner National Zeitung summarized the general
opinion in the country:

... If in England they are content with this procedure [of the
Inquiry], the fact will not be without importance in the world's
eyes as indicating the measure of morality which obtains in English
politics as soon as the extension of English territory comes into
question.

Also in Russia voices were raised in indignation. The Moscow
Gazette spoke of 'this scandalous and disgraceful sham of investi-
gation*, which *is instructive illustration of the fact that in
England's Parliament the end justifies the means*.

Hofmeyr indicated his contempt with delicate restraint:

The whole finish of the Enquiry is deplorable and disappointing
especially in view of the loyal attitude of the Bond and of the Dutch
generally in the time of the Jubilee. All we asked, all we wanted, was
fair play, not vindictive punishment. The Dutch belief in English
fair play, in Imperial thoroughness and impartiality, has received
a serious shock. . . . The Commons have decided for continued
suspicion instead of a clear and honest understanding.

[356]

UNCTUOUS RECTITUDE

The English Press, in as far as it was not bound by party
loyalty, condemned the way in which the Inquiry had been
conducted. The Westminster Budget published an amusing epitaph
on the Inquiry:

It respected confidences, it discovered the obvious, it avoided the
obscure, it compromised no man . . . fortified by unctuous rectitude
and unsuspicious disposition, it was unsparing of whitewash . . .
dyed in the odour of inanity. . . . Let resignations wait. . . .

The Investor's ILeview surpassed even Labouchere in its vitupera-
tions:

Mr Cecil Rhodes as 'unctuous rebel' . . . the unscrupulous master
of the Jameson bullybumpkins. . . . The brutal insolence of their
hero's conduct, his obvious determination to browbeat home
opinion . . . disgusted all honourable men. This was not at all the
kind of behaviour they looked for in the man their overheated
imagination had endowed 'with all manly virtues. Englishmen do
not object to a little dignity even in their freebooters and Rhodes
exhibited himself far too much in the unsavoury part of a sort of
bar-tender braggart masquerading as rebel for all but the strongest
stomached or best paid of his supports to be other than shocked. . . .

On the Stock Exchange many jokes were cracked about the
'Committee of No-Inquiry' which, during its long session, had
destroyed only one reputation, its own.

These opinions, censures and judgments of Rhodes were for
the most part prompted by party political considerations,
influenced by national motives or blackened by purely personal
vindictiveness. It is therefore interesting to hear the opinion of
a famous man, trained as a journalist and experienced as a writer.
Mark Twain, the great American author, came to South Africa
at a time when Rhodes' star was already waning and it was left
to him to write the best sketch of this strange comet which
passed over South Africa for about three decades, changing the
political, economic and social face of a whole continent. In More
Tramps Abroad Mark Twain wrote:

I know quite well that whether Rhodes is the lofty and worshipful
patriot and statesman that multitudes believe him to be, or Satan
come again, as the rest of the world account him, he is still the most
imposing figure in the British Empire outside England. When he
stands on the Cape his shadow falls to the Zambezi. . . .

[357]

RHODES OF AFRICA

That he is an extraordinary man and not an accident of fortune,
not even his dearest South African enemies were willing to deny.
The whole South African world seemed to stand in a kind of
shuddering awe; friend and enemy alike: it was as if he were deputy
God on the one side, deputy Satan on the other, proprietor of the
people, able to make them or ruin them by his breath, worshipped
by many, hated by many, but blasphemed by none among the
judicious, and even by the indiscreet in guarded whispers only.

What is the secret of his formidable supremacy? One says it is
his prodigious wealth . , . ; another says it is his personal magnetism
. . . ; another says it is his majestic ideas, his vast scheme for the
territorial aggrandisement of England, his patriotic and unselfish
ambition to spread her beneficent protection and her just rule over
the pagan wastes of Africa . . . ; and another says he wants the earth
and wants it for his own and that the belief that he will get it and
let his friends in on the ground floor is the secret. . . .

One fact is sure: he keeps his prominence and a vast following,
no matter what he does. He 'deceives* the Duke of Fife it is the
Duke's word but that does not destroy the Duke's loyalty to him.
He tricks the Reformers into immense trouble, with his Raid, but
most of them believe he meant well. He weeps over the harshly-
taxed Johannesburgers and makes them his friends; at the same
time he taxes his Charter settlers 50 per cent and so wins their
affection and their confidence. . . . He raids and robs and slays and
enslaves the Matabele and gets worlds of Charter-Christian applause
for it. He has beguiled England into buying Charter waste-paper
for Bank of England notes, ton for ton, and the ravished still burn
incense to him as the Eventual God of Plenty. He has done every-
thing he could think of to puU himself down to the ground . . . ; yet
there he stands, to this day, upon his dizzy summit under the dome
of the sky, an apparent permanency, the marvel of the time, the
mystery of the age, an Archangel with wings, to half the world,
Satan with tail to the other half.

I admire him, I frankly confess it; and when Ms time comes, I
shall buy a piece of the rope for a keepsake. 1

1 Reprinted by permission of Messrs Chatto 8c Windus Ltd,

[358]

CHAPTER XVIII

WAR

rip HE Rhodesia Express syncopated its metallic match of speed
JL and power through the night. For once the *up* train to
Bulawayo had left dead on time. The officials of the Rhodesia
Railway Company had received a warning that the 'Old Man 9
was travelling on it in his private coach. It was June 1897.

Wherever Rhodes showed himself a general expression of
sympathy could be heard, especially among the simple people:
'Poor old Rhodes . . . these London "swells" treated him like
a criminal and all his friends left him in the lurch. . . .*

He had brought home with htm from London nothing but a
Pyrrhic victory. Though he had boasted, before he left for
England to 'face the music*, that his political career was just
beginning, he had already sensed that it would not be easy to
pick up the reins that had slipped from his hands. One of those
Cape Town 'mugwumps' had actually had the impudence to tell
him straight to his face that his best retreat would be *a hermit's
cell somewhere on the Zambezi*. At the Colonial Office they had
called him 'the hustler*. And old Goschen had asked: 'Were you
not acting in rather a hurry, Mr Rhodes?* Of course he had been,

and still was, in a hurry! They ought to come and see the

knot on his wrist and watch how the heart laboured to keep him

going! And for how long still? Not older than fifty

And next week he would be celebrating his forty-fourth birthday.

The state of Rhodes' health had become known also outside the
circle of his friends. Newspapers had already discussed the question
of a successor. From all parts of the Empire there arrived
anxious inquiries. Rhodes answered them all himself, in carefully
worded statements so as not to upset the alarmed stock market.

Only the other day in London an old friend, a digger from
Kimberley, had asked whether he had enjoyed his success in life
and whether it had been worth all the trouble. Was it? Was it?
Yes, he had enjoyed it, certainly he had enjoyed itl It was worth
the candle* At the time when he thought that Kruger was going

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RHODES OF AFRICA

to hang Frank and he had not been sure they mightn't hang him

too, he didn't like it 'No, the great fault of life is Its shortness.

Just when one is beginning to know the game, one has to stop

has to' stop to stop ' One thing he had learnt: 1 honestly

believe that my years of trouble have made me a better man. I
had a life of uninterrupted success, and then I had two years of
considerable trouble, and I found . . , that I had an individuality
that could stand trouble. . . .'

The train rattled on. Rhodes, in his bed, tossed about from
side to side. But no matter how he turned, the wildly palpitating
heart morsed its maddening rhythm into his ears, broadcasting,
as it were, his death-sentence. After such nights of torture Rhodes
would need many hours to recover. Everyone would keep away.
But that morning his secretary could not avoid entering his
sleeping compartment at the first sign of his chief's being awake.
He found a grumbling ill-humoured Rhodes. * What do you want?'
The secretary reported that the night before, after Rhodes had
already retired, a telegram had arrived with the news that Barney
Barnato, on his way to England, had committed suicide by
jumping overboard.

All the colour left Rhodes' face. Just as suddenly he turned
crimson with fury. Why had the telegram not been brought to
him immediately upon its arrival? He barked at the secretary:

*I suppose you thought this would affect me and I should not
sleep. Why, do you imagine I should be in the least affected if
you were to fall under the wheels of this train now?'

Barnato's suicide upset Rhodes deeply and not only because of
the probability of a new crisis on the stock market. Rhodes had
always retained a soft spot for Barnato. Perhaps Rhodes also
felt in some way responsible for Barnato's mental collapse.
Barnato had been excluded from the secret of the Raid. Unlike
Rhodes, Beit and their friends, he had therefore not been able to
make financial arrangements beforehand. Not only had he made
no profits but he had lost more than 3 millions. In the autumn
of 1895 speculation on the 'Kaffir Circus' had reached such dimen-
sions that a crash could be predicted even by the uninitiated
outsider. The value of the South African shares on the market
amounted to more than 300 millions which, however, yielded
only 2 millions in dividends.

When in September 1895 large parcels of South African gold

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shares were offered, the provenance of which was unknown,
prices began to crumble. These mysterious sales were repeated
in ever-increasing quantities. The crash on the London Stock
Exchange began on the Jewish Day of Atonement. Barnato
bought up whatever came on the market and thus prevented a
general breakdown in prices and saved London's money market
from a consequent crisis of catastrophic proportions. Everyone
wondered what could have moved Barnato; who had always
operated timidly and only within his own restricted field, to act as
the saviour of the stock market. Strange as it may seem Barnato
had acted completely altruistically. The Lord Mayor of London
gave a banquet at the Mansion House in honour of Barnato 'in
recognition of his exertions to keep up prices and prevent a panic*.

The New Year brought Barnato a sad awakening: he had spent
his ''kosher money* to fill the pockets of Rhodes, Beit & Co., who
had used the Raid for a gigantic bear-speculation. His friend
Rhodes had made a dupe of him.

Even if he had been asked, Barnato would not have participated
in the Johannesburg conspiracy, because in his opinion 'men do
not come to the Transvaal to vote, they come to earn money*.
Without his knowledge his nephew Solly Joel had participated
in the Reform movement. Now he was sitting in jail in Pretoria
with the others, awaiting trial. Barnato took the next ship to
South Africa: 'How can I face the boy's poor mother if I don't
get him out of tronk"?*

And he did not mince his words when at the trial he told the
presiding judge in the most precise terms what he thought of
Transvaal justice. The judge finally interrupted him: 'Mr Barnato,
you are no gentleman/ As fast as a revolver shot came Barney's
reply: 'And you are no judge!*

A few days later Barnato gave notice to all his employees.
Advertisements announced the auction of his multiple property
in Johannesburg, Several of his mines closed down, Barnato, clad
all in black, went to Pretoria to see Kruger.

In Pretoria Barnato's intended sell-out was not considered an
empty threat. They knew his stubbornness. The loss in revenue
and the crisis which would inevitably follow would be ruinous
to the Transvaal. The President promised Bamato the greatest
leniency towards the condemned Reformers.

From the excitement of those days Barnato never recovered.

RHODES OF AFRICA

And yet he had no reason to worry: he had surmounted the crisis
almost unscathed, as the loss of 3 millions had soon been
partially recovered. But he imagined that he had lost most of
his fortune. Everywhere he saw enemies waiting to destroy him.
When threatening letters arrived, he lost all hold over himself.
His cries of "they're after me 3 echoed through the house. 'They're
after me! . . .* 'Yes, oh yes, poor old Dad, bless his memory, used
to say to the boys: If a man is going to hit you, hit him first and
say: c lf you try that, I'll hit you again/ " . . . No, no too weak for
that now. . . . They're after me. . . . No one ever knew or ever can
know how hard I worked for it all. If I have made millions, I
have worked for them as few men ever can have worked. ... I go
to bed with my work, sleep with it, dream of it, and wake up with

it. ... And. . . . They're after mel They're after me! '

He sailed for England on a holiday accompanied by his family.
During the trip he was calm and drank only moderately* One day
when he had been lying in a deck-chair he suddenly stood up and
with a piercing cry of 'they're after me' jumped over the rails.

The tragic end of Barnato weighed heavily on Rhodes* mind.
It reminded him of the probability of his own sudden death. He
revised his last will and sent it to his financial manager, Sir Lewis
Michell: "... It will amuse you. I am almost superstitious. I knew
Barnato would not outlive me, so I made no arrangement with
him. If Beit had not made the arrangement with me, he would
have also died first. Now the thought has come that I might go
first and my ideas be lost. . . .'

In England, in spite of his victory over his compatriots*
'unctuous rectitude', Rhodes had to swallow many humiliations.
Lord Salisbury made no secret of his contempt for him. He cut
him ostentatiously wherever they met, even at the table of the
Prince of Wales.

When he had been dismissed by the Committee, Rhodes had
booked his return passage from England on the Tantallon Castle
only after he had made sure that Schreiner was travelling on the
same ship. He kept his departure secret so that Schreiner should
not escape him at the last minute. He had to talk to Schreiner,
and now that all was over the hatchet would have to be buried
between them and everything be forgotten and forgiven. Rhodes

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needed Schreiner, without whom he would .never win back the
confidence of the moderate Afrikaners.

Rhodes found it impossible to believe that anyone should have
principles which he would not give up after having received a
good treatment 'on the personal* from him. All his wooing of
Schreiner was wasted. Schreiner had had his suspicions about
Rhodes' financial interest in the Raid confirmed by the Inquiry.
It had broken his last link of friendship with Rhodes. He would
fight him now, tooth and nail. Schreiner, together with Merriman,
Sauer and Solomon, all former Ministers under Rhodes, attached
themselves to the Bond. Rhodes, with what was left of his former
Afrikaner followers and with the majority of the English-speaking
elements, formed the Progressive Party, financed principally by
himself. The country was now clearly divided into two racial
political factions: Afrikaner and English. Rhodes' twenty years of
working for a reconciliation policy between the two races had
been utterly wrecked.

For some time Rhodes was able to keep his party though
without him in the saddle, thanks to the peculiar election
methods prevailing in South Africa at the time. However, one
could not permanently corriger la fortune at elections, and soon the
Progressive Party was in the minority. Schreiner, backed by the
Bond, became Prime Minister.

Schreiner had succeeded in ousting Rhodes and his 'capitalistic
Caesarism and bastard imperialism*. He regarded Rhodes *as the
greatest enemy of the Imperial policy', if, as he assumed, c the
British Government was set on a peaceful course'.

His loss of political power affected Rhodes so deeply that he
sometimes lost complete control over himself.

Several of his friends did not believe that Rhodes' strange
behaviour in the years from 1897 until his death was due only
to his weak heart. Molteno, who had observed him closely, now
regarded Rhodes as 'more a candidate for mental treatment than
serious political canvassing'. Others had noticed also the great
physical deterioration in him since the days of the Raid. His
complexion had taken on a still darker hue; his swollen face
appeared distorted and his eyes recalled the expression of an old
retriever dog.

No one asked for Rhodes' advice. He was left out in the cold.
In his own new party the English voters had not yet completely

[363]

RHODES OF AFRICA

was flourishing as never before and Rhodes saw the necessity of
transplanting the new type of vociferous chauvinism to the Cape.
Parties were all right during election time: between elections the
people should be given an opportunity to wave their flags and
voice their patriotic feelings. He therefore founded a movement,
the South African League, which on the outside was a harmless
patriotic society, but in fact did its best, as the Cape Government
soon complained to the High Commissioner, c to foment and excite
ill-will between the two principal European races'.

Responsible people in South Africa were seriously worried
about the hooliganism, hitherto unknown in South African
politics, which Rhodes* South African League had provoked but
of which, through repercussions on his opponents, the victim
was mostly Rhodes himself. Since the time when Groote Schuur
had been rebuilt nineteen fires had broken out, all of which were
proved to be the work of incendiaries. On Ms estate valuable
birds* eggs were smashed, the kangaroos and ostriches in the
paddocks were poisoned or clubbed to death, almost 2,000 young
trees were uprooted and broken and an attempt to liberate the
lions from their cages was frustrated only at the last minute.

Rhodes was so disgusted by this savage warfare against him
that he wanted to leave South Africa. Should he go to Rhodesia?
It seemed senseless. By the grace of Chamberlain he had again
been admitted as Managing Director of the Chartered Company,
having been elected by his shareholders with great acclaim. At
the same time, however, the dictatorial powers which he had
wielded in Rhodesia were narrowed down by Chamberlain through
the introduction of a legislative council superseding him. Though
not much gold had as yet been found and, according to expert
opinion, would never be found to any extent, Rhodes still fed
his shareholders with hopes of great gold-reefs and managed once
more to obtain fresh capital. The Chartered Company now had
the? respectable amount of 5 millions of their shareholders*
money invested in Rhodesia without having as yet paid a penny
in dividends. The optimism of the small shareholders and of the
thousands of foreign speculators was by no means shared by
English bankers and financial experts. The shares, shortly after
the shareholders 5 meeting, had reached their lowest level.

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Rhodesia would be able to get on very well without him, with
Lord Grey in charge and the Legislative Council acting as
Chamberlain's watchdogs. There was nothing for him to do any
more in South Africa. Thrown on the rubbish heap! Even his
interest in Goldfields and De Beers had begun to weaken: 'The
only trouble with regard to the industry is that it is becoming a
matter of course and uninteresting. It goes like clockwork. There
is an element of certainty there was not in the past; but I will
admit that to my mind it has not the interest it had in the past
when one had to use one's mind and brain/

The thought of being condemned to political impotence
deprived him of the ability to enjoy his existence. All his money,
the millions he had gathered and the half-million pounds which
constituted his regular income, had become valueless to him.
'Money is power', he had often said in his earlier days. At the
zenith of his life he had to find out how wrong this notion had
been.

He confided in Garrett It was shortly before the elections that
sealed Rhodes' fate of political eclipse in the Cape. He did not
speak c off the record* and knew that his words would be printed
the next day, in the Cape Times.

A leading place again in Cape politics? Garrett wanted to know.
This master of journalistic art had struck the right keynote.
Rhodes replied:

. . . Don't talk as if it was I who want your Cape politics. You
want me. You can't do without me. You discuss 'Ought Rhodes to
do this?* and 'Will Rhodes keep in the background?' and so on
I am quite willing to keep out, but you have to take the feeling of
the people, and the feeling of the people ... is that somebody is
wanted to fight a certain thing for them, and there is nobody else
able and willing to fight it. You say, *Oh, but that's your ambition,
you want to get back into power* I reply quite fairly, no, humanly
speaking, as for ambition at the Cape, I have had everything. There
is no more to offer, only work and worry. As for the North well
there we are really creating a country. . . * Really there are many
other things to think of besides Cape Town parish pump. . . . The
Cape [is] a sort of Bond-ridden place Bond, varied by unctuous
rectitude and all sorts of wobbling. ... I really believe they say
'Oh, this is Rhodes* amiable lunacy we must humour him because
after all he does work for the country/ You see, it's very amusing.

[365]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Localism here and in Johannesburg, and in Natal and in the Cape
Colony; and that's where I think, to be frank, that I might perhaps
be able to be of a certain use, because I have a certain influence, with
a good many people in aE these places, and you know my idea
Colonial Federation. . . .

Poor Rhodes., he still cherished illusions and wish-dreams far
removed from reality. Politicians fought shy of having their names
linked with his or even of being seen in his company. One of his
former followers once came to him at Groote Schuur, bringing
him some presents, but asking that his visit be kept secret. Rhodes
concealed his annoyance but he took his revenge: the visitor had
left behind his umbrella which had his name engraved on the
handle. Rhodes had it placed on the table in the entrance hall for
everyone to see.

It now began to dawn upon Rhodes that his political power
had vanished. All that remained of his former glory was a certain
sentimental value attached to his name as founder of the diamond
industry and conqueror of the North. He was no longer needed.
Chamberlain had indicated to Molteno, that "when things have
been settled in the Sudan, the whole weight of the British
Government will be thrown against the Transvaal and in clearing
up affairs in South Africa'. The 'Imperial Factor' had taken over
the task of shaping the fate of South Africa and Joseph
Chamberlain, a la Jupiter tonans, would direct the powers from
Whitehall. Since gods no longer appeared on earth personally,
Chamberlain would have to send a demigod hero to South
Africa as his handyman. He made the best possible choice:
acclaimed by all and sundry as the perfect representative of
England's militant Imperialism, the new creed of the country
which had been brought to full bloom through the patriotic
exaltations on the occasion of a beloved Queen's Diamond
Jubilee, Sir Alfred MiLner was appointed, in February 1897, as
High Commissioner in South Africa. The South African grave-
yard of reputations' was yawning for a new victim.

Chamberlain had picked on Milner not only for his admini-
strative abilities and brilliant intellect but rather for his well-
known strength of character bordering almost on recalcitrant
stubbornness which he thought would firmly resist any possible

WAR

attempts by Rhodes to bully him, to 'square* him, or to *take him
on the personal 5 . Chamberlain had warned Milner against Rhodes.
He had also given him strict orders to suppress any anti-British
movement in the Cape. He asked him to settle die Uitlander
question with or without Kruger, with the ultimate aim of a
South African Federation under the Union Jack.

Rhodes had expected to be consulted by Milner immediately
upon the High Commissioner's arrival. No word came from
Government House. Swallowing his pride, Rhodes went to see
Milner unasked. He tried hard to apply all his magnetic charm
on the new man for a treatment 'on the personal', but he soon
realized that the stern and inanimate features of the new High
Commissioner would not thaw. He never went there again.
Neither did he invite the High Commissioner to Groote Schuur
after Milner's remark had been reported to him: 'The less Rhodes
and I are seen together the better/

Though Rhodes, at the time of the Matabele indaba^ had ex-
pressed a wish to be able to grow cabbages like the Roman
Emperor Qncinnatus, he was not fully satisfied now that he had
nothing else to do but devote all his time to his various agricul-
tural enterprises. He had become the biggest farmer in the world.
In Rhodesia his two farms, one of 100,000 and the other of
70,000 acres, occupied him only as long as he was able to design
plans for dams, organize the cultivation and direct the manage-
ment. As soon as details had to be dealt with he lost patience
and left them to his managers. Before the elections of 1897 he
had acquired a great number of large farms in the Paarl and
Stellenbosch districts where most of the farmers were followers
of Hofmeyr. It was said that he had acquired these farms for
the sole purpose of settling his old English retainers from
Kimberley, Johannesburg and Rhodesia there so as to win a
majority for his party in these districts. These rumours were
contradicted by the fact that Rhodes immediately began to
combine these farms into a single giant fruit farm. The 'Rhodes
Fruit Farm* became the first, biggest and most progressive
agricultural enterprise in South Africa, the pioneer of today's
Cape fruit industry.

Most of his time Rhodes spent in Rhodesia. He loved to ride
up the Matopo Hills for recuperation. He had been seriously ill,
following severe attacks of malaria^ Dr Jameson hurried to

[367]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes' farm near Bulawayo to nurse him. The two friends often
sat together on the 'View of the World'. Once Rhodes pointed
at the weather-beaten heavy boulders and lay down flat on the
biggest of them saying almost ceremoniously: 'Here I want to be

buried As somebody said: They'll get the country and all

1*11 get is six foot by four six foot by four. . . .* Jameson looked
at his friend in consternation. No shrieking laughter followed.
Jameson then knew that Rhodes' health was even worse than the
symptoms had indicated.

Feeling that the span of life left to him was no more than a
score of months, at the most a couple of years, Rhodes, as though
in a fren2y, urged everyone around him to hurry with the com-
pletion of his various schemes. His main project, the Cape to
Cairo railway, was already more than 1,300 miles nearer realiza-
tion. For the ceremonial opening of the railway line over the
Zambezi he had, upon Lord Grey's advice, invited Milner. They
had not met since that first futile encoder at Government
House the year before.

At first, remembering Milner's offensive chilliness towards
him, Rhodes wanted to pay him back in his own coin and remained
coldly aloof. Now that there was no longer any danger of Rhodes
crossing his path and eclipsing him, Milner softened considerably.
They had two long talks together unburdening their hearts to
each other, and found out that, after all, their opinions, aims and
intentions were identical. Each, however, distrusted the other,
fearing that at the critical moment the one might steal the other's
thunder. They both agreed that 'Krugerisni' would have to be
destroyed. Rhodes blamed the old Boer President, recently
re-elected for the fourth time by an overwhelming majority, for
every failure in his latest enterprises: the Raid, the Johannesburg
revolution they had only broken down because of 'old Kroiger'.
The financial crisis, the slump on the stock market, the labour
difficulties, the lost Cape elections it was all the fault of 'that
damn' old Dopper%

To Milner the Transvaal appeared as 'two wholly antagonistic
systems a medieval race oligarchy, and a modern industrial state
[which] simply could not exist permanently side by side'. Only
about the method to be employed did the two men differ; Rhodes
was opposed to war, but only because of the cost. He preferred
the quicker, cheaper and easier way of a *jump on the Transvaal'.

WAR

In Milner's righteous civil-servant bureaucratic mind there arose
the fear that Rhodes might once again spring on them some
ugly surprise. He immediately changed the subject. He found
Rhodes, as he reported home, 'undaunted and unbroken . . . but
also untaught and quite capable, unless he be guided, of making
shipwreck of his own ambition and our permanent shipwreck'.

In Whitehall they had expected Rhodes to lie low for some
years and to be satisfied with building up what he had acquired.
Rhodes, with his insatiable appetite, demanded more: the British
Protectorate of Bechuanaland had been promised to him; he now
wanted this promise fulfilled. Milner, thinking of the uproar
which would be caused among the Exeter Hall people and the
'Little Englanders* if the demand were granted, was horrified.
'Men are ruled by their foibles and your foible, Mr Rhodes, is
size', he told him. The only way, Milner suggested to Chamberlain,
by which Rhodes should be allowed to incorporate Bechuanaland
with Rhodesia, was to make him 'earn it by his good behaviour'.
For the time being he found Rhodesia still e in a pretty handsome
mess' which was due to the fact that Rhodes 'is a great developer
but a bad administrator'. And he considered Rhodes personally
'too self-willed, too violent, too sanguine and too much in a
hurry*.

Outwardly they got along well together, though between them
there always remained a feeling of suspicion and jealousy. And
both suffered from the same kind of stubbornness, so that Rhodes
once remarked:

'I find him, his mind once made up, unmovable so much so
that we tacitly agree to drop at once any subject that we do not
agree on. I allow he makes his decisions slowly, but once made
they are irrevocable/

Such tolerance and patience Rhodes showed only rarely, even
towards people with whom he wanted to ingratiate himself. He
tried to avoid differences with Milner because he did not wish to
interfere with Milner's 'mission* even indirectly: 'A burnt child
dreads the fire. I keep aloof from the whole Transvaal crisis so
that no one may be able to say if things go wrong that Rhodes is
in it again/

Besides, he needed Milner's good will for his railway scheme,
which was nearest to his heart now that there was no longer
anything else for him to do in Africa, Next on his programme was

[369]

RHODES OF AFRICA

the continuation of the railway line up to Tanganyika. He needed
it not only for his Cape to Cairo scheme but also in order to
establish new mineral "milestones' there. On the Rhodesian-
Congo border his men had discovered the rich copper belt and
the coal-mines of Katanga. Without a rail connection it would
be useless. Funds would have to be found to finance both these
projects. With this object in view Rhodes left for England at the
end of 1898. If the copper and coal in his new mines were to pay,
he would have to find cheap money for the railway extension
which he would be able to obtain only from the British Govern-
ment. It was most unlikely that they would grant his request.
Rhodes, however, conceived the ingenious idea that the British
Treasury should merely guarantee his railway company's issue of
3 million debentures which would enable him to obtain the
money from the public at Government rates of 2^ per cent,
whereas otherwise he would have to offer at least 3 J per cent.

Chamberlain was not disinclined to listen to Rhodes' proposi-
tion but he was afraid to have the Colonial Office mixed up in
any of Rhodes' financial schemes. So as to get rid of him politely
he gave Rhodes a recommendation to his Cabinet colleague
'Black Michael' Hicks-Beach, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Chamberlain could well imagine the meeting between these two
men Rhodes who 'is very unreasonable in the way he expects
all his demands to be taken on trust' and c Black Michael' who had
inherited from Lord Randolph Churchill the title of being
England's rudest man: there would probably "be a hell of a row.

The reception which Rhodes was given by Hicks-Beach sur-
passed even Chamberlain's expectations. The Chancellor who had
no faith in the Cape to Cairo route suspected that all Rhodes
was out for was to boom Chartered shares by 'creating the
impression that the Chartered Company was to be reinforced by
Imperial credit'

It did not take long before the two men were at loggerheads.
'Black Michael' told Rhodes or rather shouted at him: It's all
right, Mr Rhodes you can't bluff me.' Rhodes jumped up from
his chair, his face purple. He had to fight for breath before he
squeaked in highest falsetto: 'You should be ashamed of yourself

ashamed of yourself!' Excitedly he marched up and down the

room, his hands deeply buried in Ms trouser-pockets. Someone
an assistant or a clerk came into the room. Rhodes checked his

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pacing and, stepping in front of the intruder, he shouted: * What
d'you think? The damned fellow said I was trying to bluff him!
I'm going home tomorrow. . . .'

Hicks-Beach was not the only one who refused to believe in
the possibility and soundness of the Cape to Cairo route. Railway
experts, pointing to the enormous costs, estimated at fifteen to
twenty millions, doubted whether interest could ever be paid on
such large capital. They also questioned the necessity of an over-
land route which would not shorten the distance from London
to the Cape. Colonel Prout, in a technical railway journal, described
the idea as enticing and admitted that 'nothing quite so spectacular
has been done in history since the time of Alexander tie Great 7 .
But he also rejected the project as uneconomic. A quarter of the
route would go parallel to navigable waters; half of the distance
would run through uncivilized country and three-fifths of it
through areas in which no white man could live.

They all misunderstood Rhodes' idea and still believed that
he was motivated only by the romantic ideas and imperialistic
'dreams* of his schoolboy Imagination*. In the meantime, how-
ever, Rhodes, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his fierce Jingoism
was beginning to think in terms of absolute JLealpolitik as far as
his enterprises in the North were concerned. Sentimental con-
siderations would not have moved him to change the railroad
a single mile. The plans were laid with *some immediate and
material objects in view', namely, to keep up with the geological,
industrial and commercial exploitation of the newly opened
countries. He pleaded with Harcourt:

Look at the matter. You get the railway to Lake Tanganyika, you
have Her Majesty's sanction for the railway to Uganda , . . and then
you have Kitchner coming doMra from Khartoum. ... It is not
imaginative; it is practical. That gives you Africa the whole of
it ... the conquest of Africa by the English nation is a practical
question now.

Harcourt refused to be convinced. He sneered at the scheme:
*. . . What a noble and generous offerl Only it is not the Chartered
Company who is to pay for this it is the British taxpayer. . . .
This prospectus is not only for English publication and English
consumption, but it is a notice to other countries who must

RHODES OF AFRICA

wickedly imagine that they have some claim to some share in
portions of Africa. . . /

The coffers of the British Exchequer were closed to Rhodes.
He had to find and he did find the necessary funds among
private investors, relying to a great extent on investment by
German and French speculators. He had repeatedly been censured
by the English Press for using foreign money markets in his
unorthodox financing methods.

The question of the route farther north had now become acute.
The Tanganyika line to Uganda would have to go through
German and Belgian Congo territory. He had to hurry: Kitchener,
from *a post to the south of Fashoda*, asked him jokingly in a
telegram: 'When are you coming up?' Rhodes replied in the
same vein. . . *If you don't look sharp, in spite of your victory,
I shall reach Uganda before you/

He had no faith in British diplomacy. He would go to Brussels
and Berlin himself and discuss the matter personally with King
Leopold and the Kaiser. Was he not himself a kind of sovereign,
the Ruler of Rhodesia?

He ran down the thickly carpeted marble staircase of the Palace
of Laeken towards the Palace gate so fast that the elderly court
flunkey who wished to show him out could scarcely follow him,
He ignored the polite question: 'Does Monsieur not wish to see
His Majesty's hot-houses with the famous orchids?* Orchids? He
suppressed a round English curse. Reminded him of another
damn* fellow who also grew those useless blossoms and who
could have behaved just as atrociously.

When Rhodes reached his carriage he wiped the sweat from
his brow and spat out his words to his secretary breathlessly:
'Satan, I tell you that man is Satanl*

Later, when he had recuperated a little, he added: *I thought
I was clever but I was no match for King Leopold.*

In his opinion of Leopold II, King of the Belgians and master
over the Congo, Rhodes did not stand alone. He merited his
name of Leopold the Unloved. Just as he himself was hated, so
he hated everyone who threatened to disturb him in his business
or his private pleasures. His greatest aversion, next to his own
family, was the English Queen, who detested him as much as she
had loved his father. Uncle Leopold.

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WAR

Instead of discussing Rhodes' projects of telegraphs and rail-
ways during the audience, the Belgian king gave him a lecture on
British perfidy. When at the end Rhodes timidly asked permission
for his railway line to go through Congo territory, Leopold
became abusive. How dared he even ask? Had not Rhodes been
responsible for having robbed the Congo of the Katanga basin,
where copper, coal and iron had been found in such abundance?
And then there was still the strip in the territory formerly held
by the French and now taken over by the British, that Rosebery
had promised him!

The King stood up and when Rhodes was already at the door
he shouted at him: 'Give it back to me and you may traverse the
Congo as you please. But until I get it back, I'll be damned if
ever a yard of your telegraph wire or a single rail of your Cape
to Cairo railway will cross my country/ Bismarck had been right,
Rhodes told himself, when he had said: 'Apparently no one ever
leaves Leopold with a whole shirt/

In Berlin, where Rhodes arrived on u March 1899, the
reception was totally different. Baron von Holstein had received
a report from German East Africa that Rhodes might visit Berlin
on his next European trip. Immediately numerous telegrams were
dispatched from the Wilhelmstrasse to the German Ambassador
in London to inquire whether 'Sir Rhodes' a German could not
imagine a prominent person without a title 'is a man with whom
compensation politics on the larger scale can be discussed that
is to say ... is his influence strong enough in England to drive
them through even against Lord Salisbury's vis inertiae! . . /

Holstein wished to exchange railway concessions in German
East Africa for the cessation of England's resistance to Germany's
acquisition of Samoa and her interests in Morocco. He also
hoped to gain an improvement in Anglo-German relations from
Rhodes' visit. Salisbury had been inaccessible to the German
Ambassador for weeks. At the moment the two countries seemed
not far from breaking off diplomatic relations.

The German Foreign Secretary, suave Baron Bernhard von
Bxilow, immediately took Rhodes in hand. He wished to sound
the man and his ways so as to be able to prepare the Kaiser for
their first meeting. The next morning Rhodes was invited to an
'informal' audience with the Kaiser for the late afternoon.

Wilhelm received his guest in his study where, behind a large

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RHODES OF AFRICA

desk, he sat on a peculiar seat built in the form of a horse's back
topped by a leather saddle complete with stirrups.

Two men sat facing each other who were the very personifica-
tion of Machtpolitik and of a fin de stick sham-romanticism. Both
believed that they had been selected as instruments of destiny to
spread and materialize the gospel of nationalism. They thirsted
for power as a compensation for the hidden weaknesses of their
own personalities. Only in a state of climactic crisis could the
German Emperor find a confirmation of his own importance and
thus overcome his gnawing inferiority complex. Cecil Rhodes
also needed the stimulus of ever new and complicated situations
to feel the weight of his personality and thus escape from the
painful dissatisfaction with his existence. These two men admired
each other. Unconsciously each saw himself mirrored in the
other.

They soon warmed up. Rhodes, employing his charm with all
the stops pulled out to their furthest limit, fascinated the Kaiser
and gave him the feeling that now at last he had found a congenial
character who had full understanding for his complex genius. The
Kaiser led the conversation to colonial questions, complaining
bitterly that there was nothing left for Germany on which to
build up a colonial empire. Rhodes had been waiting for this
topic. He had learnt about the Kaiser's latest foible of planning
a Berlin-Baghdad railway line. Rhodes now fired the Kaiser's
imagination by pointing out the possibility of conquering the
Middle East not by the might of the sword but by railways, dams
and water pipe-lines.

Rhodes felt at once that the magic name of Mesopotamia had
won his case for him. The Baghdad Railway*, the Kaiser said,
*is Germany's task, just as the Cape to Cairo line is yours/
Together they bent over maps and spent their time building
bridges here and dams there real miracles of engineering and
canals through deserts and railways across mountains. Two
schoolboys playing a geographical game!

The ground had now been well prepared, Rhodes decided, for
him to come out with his own business: 'Oh, that stupid Jameson
Raid', he said. It had all been the fault of Kruger, who did not allow
the Gape to Cairo line to run through the Transvaal, a demand
which, after aH 'was not unjust and would certainly have met with
German support'. And without Kruger there would have been

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WAR

no Raid and (with a twinkle in his eye) no unfortunate telegram.
'Oh, for that telegram', Rhodes continued after having made sure
that the Kaiser was smiling, C I have to be extremely grateful to
Your Majesty. You see, Sir, I got myself into a bad scrape, and
I was coming home to be whipped by Grandmamma, when you
kindly stepped in and sent that telegram, and you got the whipping
instead of me I was the naughty boy and I never got whipped
at all.'

All he wanted, Rhodes explained, was the right for his telegraph
and railway line to pass through German territory in East Africa.
The Kaiser agreed provided that his Ministers had no objections.
He made the condition, however, that German material should
be used and that Rhodes should exert his influence in London for
a favourable settlement of the Samoa question.

The Kaiser was about to touch on another subject when to his
great amusement Rhodes, who did not care for such nonsense
of court etiquette as waiting to be graciously dismissed, pulled
out his watch and, proffering his hand to his imperial host
another crime against court rule said to him with a smile: c Well,
Your Majesty, good-bye. Fve got to go now, as I have some people
coming to dinner.*

The Kaiser pressed his hand warmly: e l wish I had a minister
like you.' Rhodes replied: 'If I had met you before 1896, there
never would have been any Jameson Raid/

When the Kaiser told von Biilow about his meeting with
Rhodes he said: 'When Napoleon met Goethe at Erfurt he
exclaimed: "Voila un homme!" I can say the same of Rhodes:
Fve met a manl*

Several other meetings between the Kaiser and Rhodes
followed. Rhodes received the confirmation of their agreement
with the proviso of England's approval of the Samoa cession.
He left Berlin not quite satisfied with his success, which he
called *a most just bargain but aU ifs and ans'. However, his
opinion of the Germans, who for the last twenty years had con-
veniently served him as a bogey, had changed. He had turned into
a champion of an Anglo-German entente and of Germany's colonial
expansion anywhere in the world except, of course, in Africa.

One other triumph Rhodes carried away from Berlin. So as to
please Whitehall the Germans had now begun to end their
flirtation with the Boers. Dr Leyds, who had arrived in Berlin

[375]

RHODES OF AFRICA

befote Rhodes, again *to see a throat-specialist', was no longer
received by von Billow. He was told by a junior clerk in the
Wilhelmstrasse: *On behalf of his Majesty I have to express to
you the Emperor's urgent wish that you and your Government
should at least cease agitating in German papers against an
Anglo-German rapprochement?

To the Prince of Wales went Rhodes' full report about his
visit. The letter was later forwarded to the Queen:

... I feel sure he is most anxious to work with England, and I
think he is fond of the English; he must be so, for after all he is half
an Englishman. I think he is very sensitive, for he spoke about the
way the EngEsh papers have abused him. I heard in Berlin, on good
authority, and I am sure, Sir, you will not mind my repeating it,
that he thinks you do not like him, and that he is very anxious to
gain your good opinion. ... I am sure of this, that, if you showed
him good feeling when he came to Engknd, it would immensely
influence his mind.

During a short stay in England Rhodes was feted as though
there had never been a Raid or an Inquiry. He felt highly
flattered when his old University bestowed on him, together with
Lord Kitchener, the honorary degree of Doctor of Law. After
the ceremony Rhodes proudly remarked to his friends: 'They
gave me a greater reception than Lord Kitchener, and you must
remember that they were not mere undergraduates of eighteen,
but Masters of Arts, gentlemen with grey beards. . /

Rhodes believed in his infallibility more than ever before. It was
said that his intercourse with crowned heads, who had treated him
as an equal, had altogether turned his head. He became completely
arbitrary in his actions and refused to discuss his dispositions or
explain his orders even to his colleagues. When Rhodes heard
that Sammy Marks, one of Johannesburg's multi-millionaires and
a personal friend of Kruger's, had presented the President with
a pair of sculptured lions for the entrance portal of his residence,
Rhodes decided that it would be a good idea to send the President
a pair of real lions as a gift for Pretoria's new Zoological Gardens.
Friends warned him that the gift might be misinterpreted and
taken as a political allegory the British Lion. Rhodes, however,
argued, shouted and raved, and off went the lions to Pretoria.
They were sent back by return as unwanted.

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WAR

Rhodes returned to South Africa in August 1899 just in time:
the war against the Transvaal began in October. Milner had
fulfilled his mission; the Uitlander franchise served as a con-
venient pretext. The real reason for going to war remained
obscure to many. A prominent writer stated: 'Surely we never
before went to war when there was so much uncertainty about
the casus belli? The masses were fed with sufficiently intoxicating
patriotic slogans and a novelty was added to the old numbers of the
usual musical Jingo programme by a new song to the tune of
'John Brown's Body': 'We'll hang old Kruger on a sour apple
tree. . . .'

Those who knew the country, however, realized that the war,
just like the Raid and previous wars in South Africa, had been
started primarily for geological reasons. Nevertheless Her
Majesty's Secretary for War felt that the occasion called for a note
of 'felicitations' to his colleague Chamberlain., to which he added:
'My soldiers are in ecstasies.'

Ecstatic would hardly have been the word to express Rhodes'
state of mind. Until the last moment he had not believed in the
possibility of war. In London he had declared that 'Kruger is
only bluffing' and shortly before the outbreak of hostilities he
had cabled to Beit: 'Ktuger will yield everything the Home
Government demand. . . . Nothing will make Kruger fire a shot.'

Clear-headed Englishmen who remained sober in the turmoil of
wild chauvinism were dubbed 'Little Englanders' or simply
'traitors' and beaten up. Even a British general, Sir William Butler,
who had substituted for Milner as High Commissioner for a while
shortly before the war, objected to the way a casus belli had been
manufactured. He as well as many others realized that the war
would be nothing but a 'financial crusade'. He thought he saw
through Rhodes' schemes. 'When Rhodesia proved a failure, the
Transvaal became the next necessary acquisition to save the
market/ There was no reason for war.

Rhodes had carefully kept in the background so that no one
could blame him for having instigated tins war. Although for
economic reasons he would have liked to attain his goal of
destroying Krugerism without a war, he had advocated political
pressure within and without the Transvaal. He had done more
than anyone else in South Africa to poison the atmosphere from
behind the scenes, by the noisy Jingoism of his South African

[377]

RHODES OF AFRICA

League, by the aggressive policy of his Progressive Party in the
Cape Parliament and by the war propaganda in his newspapers.
Milner could be and was highly satisfied with Rhodes' underhand
war-mongeringl

Young J. C Smuts had been promoted from Attorney-General
of the Transvaal to become Krager's Assistant Secretary of State.
In his new capacity he had immediately offered Britain a franchise
of the Uitlanders after five years' residence., as well as ten
seats in the First Raad. It was not sufficient: Milner, in a pub-
lished dispatch, spoke of 'the spectacle of thousands of British
subjects kept permanently in the position of helots. . . .' Remem-
bering the effect of Dr Jameson's infamous 'Women and
Childxen Letter 9 of 1895, headlines in the Press screamed: 'Brutal
Ill-Treatment of Women and Children 5 (News of the World]\
'Brutality to Women' (Daily Mail).

It was the ugly cancerous growth of commercial imperialism
spreading over the auriferous soil of South Africa that must be
held responsible for this war. The main driving force was not
Rhodes alone. Chamberlain, too, was blamed:

Mr Chamberlain has raised a separate variety of Rhodes' financial
or speculative imperialism dependent upon a supposed connection
between Trade and the Flag, and a confusion between emporium
and imperium. Perhaps it may be called provisionally 'Emporialism'.
(Hirst.)

Some even went so far, according to Stead in his Review of
Reviews, as to accuse Chamberlain of having private interests in
the war, since the Chamberlain family was closely connected with
various armament concerns whose main business was contracts
with the Admiralty and the War Office. Also the fact that his
son Austen Chamberlain held the position of director in the Bank
of Africa was considered, to say the least of it, as strange. Lloyd
George, who was one of the most aggressive 'Little Englanders',
was once heckled at a meeting: 'You oppose any expansion of
the Empire 3 , to which the pugnacious little Welshman retorted:
'I only note that the more the Empire expands, the more the
Chamberlains contract/

The connection between haute finance and politics created, as
a leading Liberal politician expressed it, a 'dirty moral squalor'.

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WAR

Neutral foreign onlookers, like the respectable Nouvelk TLevue y
were repelled by Britain's frivolous policy of going to war against
a peaceful nation for no other than financial reasons:

These people [the financiers] have let loose the war not with a
light heart, but with a single eye to the operations on the Stock
Exchange. To that end they have endangered their country, and
exposed the Empire to infinite damage in the estimation of mankind.

Rhodes did indeed look upon the war as a speculative business
transaction with economic rather than political aims, and as the
logical continuation of his Raid politics. He sneered at Chamber-
lain's 'pride in the war' and at his boast that if he, Chamberlain,
was credited by his opponents with having been the 'author of
the war, such an exploit would be a feather in [his] cap'. To
friends Rhodes remarked:

'Three years ago I made a raid and everybody said I was
wrong. Now the Queen's Government are preparing another
raid, and everybody says they are right.'

The events leading to the state of war had exonerated Rhodes
completely. Triumphantly he was able to show that he had
always been right:

'. . . When I began this business of annexation, both sides [of
Parliament] were most timid. They would ask one to stop at
Kimberley, then they asked one to stop at Khama's country.
I remember Lord Salisbury's chief agent [Sir Hercules Robinson]
imploring me to stop at the Zambezi. Now they won't stop any-
where. They have found out that the world is not quite big
enough for British trade and the British flag/

When he had waged war against the Natives in the North
Rhodes had never been disturbed by the sacrifice of human lives.
War for him meant the continuation of business by other means.
He made his point of view quite dear when he said:

'The British flag is the greatest commercial asset. . . . We are
not going to war for the amusement of royal families, as in the
past, but we mean practical business.'

The same cynical tendency was expressed in a telegram from
Rhodes' friends to Kruger just before hostilities began: Tor what
you are about to receive may the Lord make you truly thankful.*
President Kruger was wiser. He had once warned his State

[379]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Secretary Dr Leyds: 'Young man, you don't know the English. I
do. You should argue with them dispute with them negotiate
with them but don't fight with them/ However, in a cable to the
New York Worldhz expressed his kon determination to defend the
freedom of the Boers:

. . . The Republics are determined, if they must belong to England
that a price will have to be paid which will stagger humanity.

The results were anything but what the foolish cynics in White-
hall had expected: the English were beaten thoroughly in the first
months of the war and warfare was carried into their own terri-
tories, the Cape and Natal. Once again English generals had to
learn that war, and especially war in Africa, differed somewhat
from manoeuvres at Sandhurst or Aldershot.

When Rhodes told his friends that he was going to Kimberley,
which the Boers were threatening to cut off and besiege, they
tried to dissuade him. He refused to listen. That's where his
place was in the hour of danger! If it was to be destroyed, if his
life's work was to be wiped out by the Boers, he would go down
with it.

Having Rhodes within the precincts of the besieged town
signified an increased risk for Kimberley: the Boers would muster
their greater forces to take the town and capture Rhodes. They
had already made it known that they were holding ready an iron
cage in which to bring him to Pretoria for judgment. The Mayor
and several of Rhodes' friends in Kimberley therefore begged of
him to stay away from Kimberley as long as it was besieged, but
their entreaties fell on deaf ears.

A beleaguered town was not a place for someone as restless as
Rhodes, unaccustomed as he was to having his activities curtailed
in space and sphere. After having victoriously fought wars on
his own in spite of all warnings of the military experts, after he
had ruled a large country with almost dictatorial powers, how
could he submit, under martial law, to the orders of a military
commander of only the rank of a colonel? According to him
Rhodes and Kimberley were one. He had 'made the town'* The
greater part of the town De Beers was his property. Most of
its inhabitants were in his employ or were indirectly dependent
on him. And the town contained the greatest asset of the Cape

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WAR

Colony, his diamond mines. It was therefore to be expected that
he would feel himself not only responsible for the security of his
men and property but also entitled to conduct all the necessary
arrangements for the defence of the town.

Rhodes showed clearly that he did not think much of the
military qualities of the Commander, Colonel R. G. Kekewich.
He had seriously expected at least a general. Already in the early
stages of the siege, in preposterous telegrams to Milner and to
the Cominander-in-Chief, General Sir Redvers Buller, Rhodes
had demanded that a strong force for the relief of Kimberley
should be put on the march without delay.

As soon as he was settled in Kimberley, Rhodes began to
organize the defences. Before any of the military experts he had
recognized that the great initial successes of the Boers were the
result of strategy based on the great mobility of their troops.
Rhodes, at his own expense, bought 1,000 horses and smuggled
them through the Boer lines into Kimberley. So as to strengthen
the weak garrison he organized mounted volunteer troops which
were able to meet the Boers on equal terms, all his men being
good riders and splendid shots.

Rhodes, of course, believed that these troops, the Diamond
Fields Light Horse and the Kimberley Light Horse, were his own
personal guards regiments which only he, their Honorary
Colonel, had the right to dispose. Colonel Kekewich was
naturally of a different opinion. The first dash occurred. Others
followed. Rhodes had established his own military cabinet,
intelligence service, provision-commissariat, hygienic depart-
ments, labour corps, armament depots and medical branch, all
under his authority without regard to Kekewich's orders. There
was a moment when even the calm and gentle Kekewich came
very near to having Rhodes court-martialled. No other officer
would have stood for an answer such as Rhodes gave him during
an argument: 'You military are working only for medals, orders,
titles and promotion, but I am working for the people/

When the military heliograph station was no longer at his
disposal, Rhodes made the De Beers engineers build one for his
own private use. Previously his messages had been censored; now
he could say what he liked. Officers maliciously spread the rumour
that Rhodes* telegraph only served his Stock Exchange specula-
tions. These rumours were partly justified: Rhodes, or De Beers,

RHODES OF AFRICA

owned all the mines in Kimberley except one. Now, with the
guns roaring all around him, he negotiated with the directors by
heliograph via Cape Town and succeeded in bringing this last
independent diamond mine under his control,

Rhodes did not seem to mind the grenades exploding and the
bullets flying around him. Conspicuous in his well-known apparel
of light sports jacket and white trousers, and his notorious some-
what soiled large slouch-hat, he served the enemy as an easy
target. Nevertheless he took his usual ride outside the fortifica-
tions every morning. Later, accompanied only by his secretary,
he was often seen to go out on private reconnaissance very near
the Boer line, the aim of many Boer snipers whose bullets never
went far from their mark. Was he looking out as he had done in
the Matabele campaign for the bullet to end his life and thus -put
a stop to this horrible and frustrating wait for relief to arrive?
They were already eating horse-meat in Kimberley. Rhodes
organi2ed soup-kitchens, but many people grumbled that he was
living far too well himself in the Sanatorium where, it was said,
chickens were being kept in bedrooms. His friends advised him
to eat publicly at one of his soup-kitchens so as to dispel these
rumours. He could not swallow any horse-meat soup, he said,
little knowing that it had been his chief nourishment for the last
weeks. Once the Kimberley Club's 3,ooo-a-year chef served the
meat of a two-year-old colt to Rhodes as 'grilled prime veal fillet
garni a la sttgi.

A great problem was the Natives in the compounds. Work in
the mines had come to a standstill after the first few weeks. If the
Natives were dismissed from the compounds a crime wave would
sweep the town. Rhodes organized the Natives into road-making
gangs. They built the famous Siege Avenue, more than a mile
long, which is still the pride of the city.

Kekewich's few light guns were no match for the Boers' heavy
Krupp artillery. Rhodes conceived the idea of making heavy
guns in the De Beers workshop. Within a short time 'Long Cecil*
and *St Cecilia* began to send their 3o4b shells into the Boer lines.
Each bore the inscription "With C J. R.'s compliments.' The
Boers promptly retaliated with a Krupp ice-pounder. The Krupp
guns of the Boers caused great losses in human lives as well as
considerable damage to the town. It was Rhodes who had the
women and children brought into safety in one of the mines

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before the military authorities of Kimberley even gave them a
thought.

The heavy bombardment, the lack of food and even more the
fact that after three months of siege hope of relief was no nearer,
although an English force under Lord Methuen was only twenty
miles away, frayed everyone's nerves. Rhodes especially suffered
under what he called 'Methuen' s masterful inactivity'. Kekewich,
too, was almost at the end of his tether. But never, even when
all seemed hopeless and under Rhodes' constant provocations,
did he lose his imperturbability. Rhodes hated this war, or rather
the way in which it was being conducted. Interviewed by a young
journalist, he burst out:

'People imagine that I am a warlike sort of person. I am not.
I do not believe in war. I think so many things should be tried
before going to the arbitrament of war. Some of these colonels
think that all you have to do is to cry out "Attention!", hold up
your sword, and the world will quail before you. Nonsense. I like
soldiers like "Chinese" Gordon who went through the Taiping
rebellion armed with a walking-stick/

He would have liked to end the war. It was his firm conviction
that 'Kruger was not such an ass as to resist to the end'. Lord
Methuen was so near to Kimberley. Why, for heaven's sake, did
he not push through? Rhodes sent telegram after telegram to
Headquarters, giving military advice, threatening, cajoling,
ridiculing. He delivered public speeches, published articles and
gave interviews over his heliograph to English papers in which
he accused the highest authorities of blundering inefficiency and
asked for replacement of the leading generals. At Headquarters
Lords Roberts and Kitchener, who knew him, merely smiled.
Lord Methuen, however, did not possess as much sense of humour
and instructed Colonel Kekewich to *tell Mr Rhodes that on my
entry into Kimberley he and his friends must take their immediate
departure*. Kekewich had this dispatch shown to Rhodes, with
the result that relations between them were broken off almost
altogether.

Kimberley was not far from surrender and Rhodes seriously
contemplated personal negotiations with the Boers when it was
relieved on i j February. No one was happier than Kekewich who
for five months had had to wage war on two fronts, In his final
report to Lord Roberts he complained about Rhodes: 1 have

[383]

RHODES OF AFRICA

put up with this man as long as possible.' But the General replied
dryly: *I wish you had understood, Colonel, "that man 5 ' was a
power in Africa and should have been honoured/ Rhodes decided
to bury the past and at his instigation the directors of De Beers
presented Kekewich with some selected diamonds as a souvenir
of the siege.

Work work some work to do was what Rhodes wanted. If
they would only listen to him the war would be over in a few
weeks. They had now followed his example and made the British
infantry more mobile. Nevertheless they could not compete in
mobility with the Boers. The stumbling-block lay in the cumber-
some British provisions system. Advance troops always had to
wait until the service corps caught up with them. The Boers
carried their provisions, some sticks of biltong sun-dried game
mea t in. thek saddle-bags. Rhodes planned a system whereby
the British troops would become more independent of their
bases of supply. He telegraphed to Lords Roberts and Kitchener
that he was willing to take over the organization of the supply
of provisions for the troops provided that *I have full power and
no one to interfere with me. . . . Reply sharp as otherwise I am
going to Cape Town/

They preferred to let him go to Cape Town. There, however,
the atmosphere was anything but pleasant. The Afrikaners
resented the way Milner was treating them as if they all were
traitors. Civil and military authorities advised Rhodes in the
interests of internal peace and of his own safety to leave the Cape
as soon as possible. Rhodes went to Rhodesia, where he was far
too occupied to take an interest any longer in a war in which
they ignored his advice and went from one blunder to the
next.

A few months later the picture on the war front had changed.
Lord Roberts had seized Pretoria from the retreating Boers.
Somewhat prematurely he declared the war over and left to
Kitchener what he thought were mopping-up operations. Rhodes
was surprised at such ignorance.

An opportunity for venting his opinion on the situation arose
when he was called upon as President of the South African
League to preside over a meeting in Cape Town to celebrate
the victory. His face, stern and grim, showed that he was in
no mood to join in the exultant flag-waving and triumphant

[384]

WAR

hurrah-shouting of the assembly* which filled only half the hall.
Ignoring the ovation, he hurried to the platform and growled at
them:

You think you have beaten the Dutch! But it is not so. The Dutch
are not beaten; what is beaten is Krugerism, a corrupt and evil
government, no more Dutch in essence than English. Nol The
Dutch are as vigorous and unconquered today as they have ever
been; the country is still as much theirs as it is yours, and you will
have to live and work with them hereafter as in the past. . . .

His speech had great repercussions. Milner realized that the
war had turned Rhodes the politician into Rhodes the statesman.
He and a few others now saw what Rhodes had always preached,
that the only possible future for South Africa lay in a reconciliation
of the two races by a federal system. Should Rhodes be asked to
lead the South African states into a union of a nation? The Raid
was not yet forgotten and the memory of Rhodes* betrayal of his
Afrikaner friends was still too fresh and painful in their memory.
Rhodes went back to Rhodesia. There, he felt, was his place. His
mission in South Africa was completed. He had painted the map
of South Africa red, British red. On the credit side of the balance
sheet he could proudly show that the 250,000 square miles of
British territory in Africa had been extended in scarcely twenty
years to two million square miles. On the debit side, however,
there stood in blood-red letters the expense account which for
the Boer War alone amounted to:

British casualties: 7,5 82 killed

13,139 died of disease
21,157 wounded

1,853 missing
Boer casualties: 6,000 killed

16,000 children! Died in British
4,000 women J concentration camps
British war costs: 222,000,000

[3853

CHAPTER XIX

SO MANY WORLDS

WT. STEAD once remarked: 'The history of South Africa
would have been different if Rhodes, Dr Jameson, Beit
and Milner had been married men/ The fact that Rhodes
remained a bachelor and took no interest in women led to many
comments, rumours and insinuations which followed him
throughout his life. It was generally accepted that he 'hated
women*. Once, when the subject was under discussion, Rhodes
remarked casually: 'Women! Of course I don't hate women. I
like them, but I don't want them always fussing about/

Having acquired, as a result of his irregular life, all the habits
of a spoilt bachelor, with complete freedom of movement and
independence of set household rules, he would have considered
a wife only as a disturbance. As a trial his sister Edith once acted
as hostess at Groote Schuur. It did not last long and ended in
a 'capital row'. Brother and sister were temperamentally too much
alike. Rhodes, referring to this brief episode, said: 'Groote Schuur
is not big enough for two Rhodes to live there together/ But it
had nothing to do, he added, with a dislike of the other sex. The
Queen, on his second visit to Windsor, referred to these rumours
when she said: Tve been told, Mr Rhodes, that you are a woman-
hater/ Rhodes later claimed to have replied: 'How could I possibly
hate a sex to which Your Majesty belongs/

The gpssip-mongers were never busier than at the time when
Rhodes, at the height of his career, came to London regularly
and the hostesses of Mayfair competed in lionizing him. Some
of the society women would not accept a simple 'No' for an
answer. One of them used to wait for hours, sitting in her carriage
in front of his hotel, to catch him and take him for a triumphal
ride to the 'Row'. Rhodes mostly gave her the slip by using a
back-door.

Rhodes' mail regularly brought him what is known today as
'fan mail', from more or less hysterical female admirers. The wife
of a British officer in China wrote to him with every overseas

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SO MANY WORLDS

mail for many years until his death* She told him of her deep
love for him, her 'Prince*, her 'Emperor*, her 'Hero*. Her husband
with whom, as she wrote, she lived in happy union did not object
to her letters. She signed them by her full name. Anxiously she
gave him advice about his health and seemed very worried that
he might be overworking. At first Rhodes was flattered, but he
never answered her. Later he did not even read her letters. The
same fate was dealt out to the ardent love-letters of a London
woman, 'Sarah', who, however, was not satisfied with the
expression of her platonic affection par distances she beseeched
him constantly in the most pleading terms to meet her in Hyde
Park.

It was certainly more than his name, his millions and his
position that attracted women. One of the few in whose company
he felt comfortable, the Duchess of Sutherland, confessed: 'He
could conquer hearts as effectually as any beauty that sets herself
to subjugate mankind/ And another of his female admirers said:
'. . . he had great grey eyes and a smile of singular and persuasive
charm . . . like the sun on a granite hill.'

There was only one occasion on which Rhodes showed and
expressed an interest in female beauty. During the first Matabele
War he and his secretary were riding over the hills when they
met Lobengula's youngest daughter, 'the Princess', ats Rhodes
liked to call her, a girl of sixteen or seventeen with a bronze-
coloured, slim, and graceful body and a face of serene nobility.
Her name, WTupusela y could not have been better chosen; it meant
'Rosy Hue in the East before Daybreak'. Rhodes stopped his
horse and pointed at the girl whose lithe movements seemed to
express a silent music: 'Now, I want you to see my idea of a
really beautiful Native girl. . . .' Without pausing, he continued
a conversation about a financial transaction.

To the same secretary he once explained, without any intro-
duction, his flushed face indicating how the subject embarrassed
him:

'You may ask why I never married, and do you know? I answer
you very fairly that I have not yet seen the woman whom I could
get on in the same house with/

The question or was it the rumours about his misogyny that
worried him? seemed to occupy him a great deal. To another
of his secretaries he gave a different explanation:

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RHODES OF AFRICA

*I know everybody asks why I do not marry- I cannot get
married, I have too much work on my hands. I should always
be away from home and should not be able to do my duty as
a husband towards my wife. A married man should be at home and
give the attention and advice which a wife expects from a husband.'

For the same reason, that of a dual loyalty, Rhodes wanted only
young unmarried men as secretaries. As soon as they married he
transferred them to one of his companies. He considered their
marriage as an act of disloyalty. At the wedding of one of his
secretaries he congratulated the bride by saying: 1 am very jealous
of you!* When another secretary became engaged he barked at
the bridegroom: 'I hate people getting married; they simply
become machines, and have no ideas beyond their respective
spouses and offspring/

Experienced medical men among his friends, such as Dr
Jameson and Dr Smartt, must have realised that the origin of
Rhodes* heart-disease excluded the possibility of his ever getting
married. All of them were therefore not a little astonished when
they noticed shortly before the Matabele War that Rhodes was
taking a deep interest in a pretty eighteen-year-old girl who had
just left school, Maria Elizabeth Schickerling. It seemed obvious
that Rhodes was in fact courting the girl. She was often asked to
Groote Schuur with her parents; he frequently sent her presents
of flowers and chocolates and once a beautiful ebony-topped
glove-box. Rhodes took her to the theatre several times, but the
shy girl would not go alone with him, always bringing along
a sister or a cousin as chaperon. It seemed clear that Rhodes
wanted to marry her and her parents appeared to favour the
match. Maria Elizabeth, however, had more sense than, her
parents and did not believe in the possibility of marital happiness
between a man of forty and a girl less than half his age. It is
questionable whether Rliodes really had matrimonial intentions.
Probably he was only temporarily fascinated by the youth, the
beauty and the naivety of a well-brought-up young lady.

True friendship based on mutual esteem linked him for almost
a quarter of a century to an old lady, Mrs Maria Margaretha
Koopmans-De Wet, who was generally acknowledged as the
'Uncrowned Queen of South Africa*. She came of an old Dutch
family which had been established in the town as merchants for
more than two centuries. After the death of her husband she had

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taken over her family's old residence in Strand Street overlooking
the bay. There she ruled as the centre of a new Afrikaner culture
which had been reared on the old Dutch civilization of the Cape.
Her position as a living Hnk between the old and the new culture
attracted to her salon everyone of significance in the Colony's
cultural, political or social life. For sixty years Mrs Koopmans-De
Wet acted as unofficial political adviser to Ministers, Governors
and diplomats, as mater confessor ', oracle and judge. President
Kruger was a personal friend, as were Hofmeyr, Schreiner and
Sauer, Young Smuts sat at her feet and listened with wide eyes
to the old woman's wise and prophetic words, many of which
were later to come true.

Hofmeyr introduced Rhodes to the Koopmans salon just after
he had been elected to Parliament. At first the old lady was a
little baffled by this young man from the Kimberley diggings who
seemed to have a patent solution for every South African problem.
She did not keep back her own opinions. Often she told him that
as yet he knew nothing of South Africa: 'It takes five years to
become acclimatized to South Africa; another five years to Uke
it; and another five years to know it/ Rhodes kept surprisingly
quiet when Mrs Koopmans-De Wet lectured to him or scolded
him. She liked him, however, because she was convinced of the
sincerity of his intention to reconcile the two races. She had great
respect for his intellect, except for the disturbing predominance
of his materialism against which she persistently put up a battle.

Rhodes grew so accustomed to her 'telling him home-truths*
that when he became Prime Minister he often consulted her
before making important decisions* It was often difficult for her
to follow him in his political meanderings or to approve of his
strange company of satellites. Gradually she found it almost
impossible to understand his motives. Nevertheless she never
ceased to defend him against the increasing number of his
critics.

Then came the Raid. When Mrs Koopmans heard about
Rhodes* loneliness and the danger that he might harm himself,
she let him know that she expected him to come and see her.
For three hours they were closeted together in Mrs Koopmatis*
private sitting-room. Neither of them ever disclosed what was
said during the interview. Eye-witnesses, however, reported that
when he left Mrs Koopmans* house, there appeared for the first

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RHODES OF AFRICA

time in many days the old gleam in Rhodes' eyes though they
looked as if tears had reddened them.

Though the intimacy of their friendship had come to an end,
she retained her respect for Rhodes as a man until the end, while
he still held her in high esteem.

Rhodes 3 strange friendship with Olive Schreiner lasted for only
a few years. It ended in hatred. Olive Schreiner's hatred, however,
was only love in a different key. Everything that Nature had
bestowed on this genius of a woman c the only person of genius
that any of the Colonies has produced* every episode of her
life, her very existence, was contradictory.

The contradiction in her intellect was partly due to hereditary
influences. Jewish blood pulsated in her veins, which was derived
from her mother's side though dating back several generations.
There was indeed something of the fighting spirit of the Old
Testament prophets in this little woman. And fight was what she
did all her life.

It was her misfortune to have been brought up in Darkest
Africa where no humanitarian feelings were squandered on
Natives and where the battle for survival between men and the
beasts of the veld was still in progress. A mission station did not
give an anaemic young girl the necessary sense of realism with
which to accommodate herself to such a life. The realism of
frontier life was m&t in the house of her parents by pious hymns
and Wesleyan prayers, supplemented by German fairy-tales and
German Romantic poetry. In young Olive's impressionable mind
there arose the first contradiction: the Bible mixed with the
sensual German romanticism fomented dissension in her brain.

When to this strange intoxicating concoction was added the
sobering medicine of Spencer's 'relativity of knowledge' as served
in his First Principles^ and when into a famished intellect was
poured Darwin, Gibbon and Buckle, it is not surprising that out
of the little mission house there stepped a revolutionist. She
thirsted for freedom. She wanted to live her own life. For the
young governess who for a pittance of 30 a year had to teach
children on lonely farms there was little hope of realizing such
wish-dreams. She needed an antidote to the sedate routine of her
life. She procured it for herself. In the first man she met she
already saw her redeemer, according to the pattern of Grimm's

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SO MANY WORLDS

fairy-tales. All the sentimentality of the German Romantics she
poured into her love. It did not take much disillusionment to
sober her up and bring her to a state of psychological conflict,
after which she had in fact been Hankering.

Olive wanted to break out of the prison of her ego. The
newly awakened spirit within her was to conjure out of her
intellect a new, a fantastic existence by the magic of pen and
paper.

Here she could say everything she did not dare to mention in
South Africa's narrow-minded atmosphere: she gave account to
herself of the realities which she had not previously had the
courage to face; she expressed her longing for liberty, for love
and for the warmth of companionship with such realism that she
wondered at it herself; she lived her life over again with full
consciousness of her sins, her faults and her failings; and she
lived her future life as she would like to live it, pouring into it all
her lusts, her desires, her hopes and her expectations; she accused
herself and at the same time defended her actions; she wanted
to be free, not only free from the manacles of conventional lies,
but free from herself; she filled page after page.

When she went to England to stay with one of her brothers
she took the neatly wrapped manuscript along with her. George
Meredith as reader of a London publishing house recognized her
great literary talent: twenty-four-year-old Olive Schreiner became
world-famous in 1883 as the author of the sensational book The
Story of an African Farm> the topic of conversation in the literary
salons, the drawing-rooms and the cafs of three continents.
Olive Schreiner was celebrated by English, American, French,
German and Russian critics as the champion of women's rights,
as the courageous propagandist of "free love' and the brave
bearer of the testimony of Agnosticism.

Her unexpected fame carried in itself the contradiction in her
literary value. The plot of her story is feeble; its construction
shows the inexperienced beginner; most of her figures are drawn
from clich^ patterns; and her philosophy, courageous as are her
thoughts, does not fit into the frame. The greatness of her work
lies in the beauty of the language with which she paints the
extraordinary atmosphere of the South African landscape. In her
lyricism can be felt the influence of the German Romantics. Her
language sometimes had the simple forcefuLness of the Old

B.HODES OF AFRICA

Testament. And some passages recall the poetry of the Evangelists-
Above all, the perfectly worded ending has never been surpassed.

Her fame brought her in contact with many literary celebrities.
W. T. Stead called her "the categorical imperative in petticoats 5 .
He introduced her to the circle of his friends, where she was
approached by a young litterateur of her own age. Havelock
Ellis, the scion of a seafaring family, had recently taken up the
study of medicine, not so much with the aim of curing disease
as to investigate the mystery of sex. He recognized the contra-
dictions in Olive Schreiner's nature which, in spite of her strength
and c for all her keen vision of the external world*, could rarely
adjust itself to the surroundings. He experienced a tantalising
crazy love for her. Only after he had at last been cured of his
passion did he realize that behind the iron facade of her intel-
lectoalism there lay *a child, a trustful, idealizing, imaginative,
helpless child'.

Olive Schreiner feared nothing and no one more than herself.
She would rather fight against Nature than succumb to her
passionate temperament. She was afraid of losing herself in
passion. In the naivety of her maidenish romanticism she believed
that she could sublimate sex by platonic sentimentality. Olive
Schreiner, the apostle of 'free love*, tortured poor Ellis for years
by refusing him her body. She even expected the poor young
healthy man to 'coutrol the animal in him* when sharing the
same room with her on holiday travels. Once she wrote to him:
*When passion enters into a relationship it does spoil the holy
sweetness/ The thirty-year-old woman ran away from sex. And
she openly confessed her fear to Ellis: *In that you are myself,
1 love you, and am near to you, but in that you are a man I am
afraid of you, I shrink from you."

Such madness could not last, but it went on for five years.
The only profit that Ellis gained from this nerve-racking love-
aflair was interesting studies for his Psychology of Sex. Olive's
health was failing under the English climate, and frequent attacks
of asthma made a permanent stay in the dry atmosphere of the
Karroo imperative. She returned to South Africa. She lived in
a small cottage in the lonely village of Matjesfontein, where
besides her work there was no distraction other than to watch the
Cape Town trains to Kimberley and to the Rand at the little station.
Olive Schreiner, who had been active in England's Liberal

[39*]

SO MANY WORLDS

movement, took a great interest in the politics of the Cape. In
her admiration for Rhodes, who was about to take over the
Colony's Premiership, she found herself for a time in full accord
with her family. Her mother had elevated the 'Colossus 5 to a
household-saint to whom and for whom she prayed. Poor little
'Mamsie', tired and resigned, had found peace in Catholicism and
rest for her body and soul in a little convent cell. Will Schreiner,
now a Minister in Rhodes* Cabinet, led the family in the hymns
of praise to his new friend.

Here was a figure after Olive's own romantic heart: adventurer s
pioneer, discoverer of hidden fortunes, a Croesus, one who c thinks

in continents', a man of action, a friend to the poor Was he

not like a knight in shining armour from one of Papa's German
fairy books? To a friend she confessed: *I feel a curious and
almost painfully intense interest in the man and his career/

She went to the House to hear him speak in 1890, Her heart
was in flames. To her brother Will she opened wide the sluices
of her heart: 'It's not love, it's not admiration . . . it's not that I
think him noble or good * . . it's the deliberate feeling "that man
belongs to me". . . .'

In November 1890 they met for the first time. Rhodes' train
stopped at the little Karroo station for an hour to allow the
passengers to dine. He recognized her as she stood on the platform
by her resemblance to her brother Will: a tiny, rather stoutish
woman *a big person in a small compass', as the man who later
became her husband gallantly expressed it, or, as she described
herself, *a tall person cut short*.

Rhodes and Olive Schreiner resembled each other in many
respects, besides that of being often taken for Jews, Just like
Rhodes she had received her first enlightenment on the evolu-
tionary facts of life with the shock of a child whose belief in Father
Christmas is suddenly destroyed. Darwin gave both of them
intellectual indigestion. The idea of Evolution widened their
horizons with such vehemence that they lost their way in the
labyrinth of Materialism. Into their adult life they dragged the
heavy load of shattered ideals. They never surmounted the
storms and upheavals of their puberty completely. They could
not rid themselves of their juvenile romanticism which upset the
harmony of their minds. Just like Rhodes, Olive's mentality and
actions were influenced by her ill-health. The irregular working

[393]

RHODES OF AFRICA

of his heart and the disorder of her respiratory organs created
a permanent tension in them which they tried to overcome by
accelerated activity.

The thoughts of these two people rotated round South Africa,
They both loved the country. Yet Rhodes never changed and
never wanted to change from being thoroughly English. England
remained his c home ? . He felt happy in South Africa because he
liked the landscape, the people with their easy manners and the
open-air life. And he loved South Africa because the country had
dealt kindly with him. But his love for South Africa came nowhere
near the Roman cosmopolitan maxim of Ubi bene^ ibi patrta. Olive
Schreiner loved South Africa as a child loves its mother, seeing
everything in it as the most beautiful on earth. South Africa was
a part, the most essential part, of her emotional and intellectual
make-up. And she felt that she was a component of this country:
Boer, English or Native were for her not members of a different
race or language gtoup but all South Africans. That which Rhodes
aspired to achieve by the political means of a Federation was in
her mind already a fact, in spite of state boundaries. *I learnt to
love the Boer; but more, I learnt to admire him', she said; and
she meant it because she also saw his faults.

Though they differed widely in many spheres of their mentality
there remained sufficient points of contact for a friendship based
on mutual admiration. Olive Schreiner, with her higher intelli-
gence, recognized the chasm between them but believed that it
was only because *our friends are so different that we could never
become close friends*. When she asked Rhodes why he surrounded
himself with friends of that kind he lost his temper and almost
shouted at her: 'Those men my friends! They are not my friendsl
They are my tools, and when I have done with them, I throw
them away I 7 Nevertheless she found him *even higher and nobler
than [she] had expected'.

They walked together over the purple veld and Rhodes became
infected with the 'sense of wild exhilaration and freedom' which
Olive always found in the breezy Karroo. Olive rejoiced at finding
Rhodes not the *huge hard-headed man of the world' she had
expected but c so curiously Uke a little child, that one feels so
tender to him'. He spoke to her about her African Farm with
an intelligence and enthusiasm such as no one, in her opinion,
had ever shown before in talking about her work. It was no empty

[394]

SO MANY WORLDS

compliment which he paid her: the book was always on his
bedside-table and among the few which he took on his travels.
Before he had met Olive Schreiner, Rhodes had told friends that
the book had 'enraptured him again and again and agakf, that it
was c a work of profound genius'.

Later when Rhodes described this first conversation with Olive
Schreiner, he said: 'She has me on her brain*, but he was not
sure whether the reason was political or personal. He told her
bluntly that 'after this book that was her own life anything else
she wrote would be mere twaddle 3 . Olive replied angrily that she
had plenty more books planned but was reluctant to c reveal her
innermost thoughts to the public*. Rhodes interrupted her: 'That's
nonsense, you've done it already/

They parted as good friends. When in Cape Town she was
a frequent and welcome guest at Groote Schuur and every time
disregarding all rules of precedence, Rhodes would ask the male
guest of honour to take her in to dinner, or he himself would
act as her table partner. People often remarked on the fact that
Olive Schreiner was the only person who could make Rhodes
listen quietly for any length of time.

Her romantic ideas about the 'man of genius' could not fail
to suffer disillusionment upon closer acquaintance. While she
retained her 'strong personal admiration for Rhodes' genius' she
soon began to express her 'strong detestation of his methods',
especially his attitude towards Natives. It came as a shock to her
when he told her one day at the dinner-table: *I prefer land to
niggers.' Though she often censured him harshly and, as W. T.
Stead called it, 'expended no small portion of her vast resources
of vituperative eloquence upon Rhodes', she never allowed any-
one to belittle Rhodes or even to question his greatness. To such
a critic she once exclaimed: 'Great man? Of course he is! Who
ever denied that?*

She published her revised opinion of Rhodes in a series of
parables in which she pretended that 'it came to pass that Cecil
Rhodes died*. The Devil claimed Mm. However, the gates, doors
and windows of Hell proved all too small to take Rhodes in* The
BOM >/>#, hearing the commotion, asked for the reason. The
Devil explained that he had tried every way but could not get
Cecil Rhodes into Hell: 'He is too big!' *Ah/ said the Eon Dieu,
'then, I suppose Cecil must come here .after all.*

[395]

RHODES OF AFRICA

In view of Olive Schreiner's temperament, it seems not unlikely
that personal factors were, if not the main, at least contributory
reasons for her final rupture with Rhodes. Towards 1893 rumours
were heard that Rhodes was engaged to marry Olive Schreiner.

Full of indignation, Olive denied that there was any truth in
it. All she wanted, she told a friend, was to have a 'mother's
friendship 3 , where men 'come and tell me their troubles and
feelings'. She declined to discuss her relations with Rhodes even
with her best friends, because, if 'such a beautiful thing has
happened to a human being that they absolutely love another
soul it must seem a terrible desecration to have other human
beings finding it out and discussing it'.

No, Olive Schreiner refused to say anything more on the
subject. It seems probable, however, that Cecil Rhodes, though
he had no objections to receiving the adoration of a famous
authoress, and though he liked her company and found her useful
as an intellectual ornament to Groote Schuur, would not allow
himself to be 'mothered' by her or permit her to interfere with
his private life, his business or his politics. Neither does it seem
likely that he would accept the role of romantic lover in a platonic
love intrigue. Perhaps he took the longing for 'mother's friend-
ship' of this almost forty-year-old eternal flapper as an attempt to
catch him in the meshes of matrimony. Whenever Rhodes
suspected even the slightest attempts in that direction he broke
off all connections immediately. The rumours about an engage-
ment could not have failed to reach his ears. Thereafter he saw
very little of Olive Schreiner.

Olive Schreiner grew ever more censorious of Rhodes. The
Matabele War and Lobengula's tragic end, Rhodes' intensified
propaganda campaign against Kruger, the conditions in Rhodesia
and his almost dictatorial rule in the Cape offered sufficient fuel
for her attacks. She found a helpful and enthusiastic ally in a young
farmer, Samuel Cronwright, who expressed his liberal ideas in
a provincial newspaper in forceful leaders'. After two years of
wooing, the forty-year-old spinster married the young man eight
years her junior, who adopted the name of Cronwright-Schreiner.

Their common antagonism towards Rhodes formed the firmest
link in this strange union. Both saw in him the greatest enemy
to peace in South Africa. Rhodes* attempts to 'square' Cronwright-
Schreiner when he brought bis political propaganda campaign

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SO MANY WORLDS

into Kimberley, the very heart of Rhodes 3 domain, was, as we
have seen, doomed to failure.

After the shock of the sudden death of her only child, which
was suffocated in its mother's bed a few weeks after its birth,
Olive Schreiner's health deteriorated rapidly. She became harder,
harsher and more vehement. The 'child in her 9 disappeared and
instead there came to the surface the doctrinal, hard-hitting,
intolerant intellectual Valkyrie. The Schreiner family was split
into camps. The mother continued to see Rhodes as a superman.
Will Schreiner was proud of his friendship with Rhodes. Those
who were for Cecil Rhodes were, she decreed, against OEve
Schreiner. Thus she sacrificed her family to her hatred for Rhodes.

When the Jameson Raid confirmed her damnatory opinion of
Rhodes she felt no sense of triumph. Tempting offers for critical
articles on Rhodes and the Raid reached her from large news-
papers and magazines all over the world. Though she needed the
money badly she declined without hesitation to profit by Rhodes 5
downfall: *I attacked Rhodes frankly and fearlessly and endlessly
when he was in power, and therefore I can afford to be quiet
now. . . . My feelings are a strange mixture of intense personal
sympathy with Rhodes in his downfall, and an almost awful sense
of relief that the terrible power which was threatening to crush
all South Africa is broken. ... It is too terrible to think of what
the results would have been if Jameson had not been defeated,*

The Raid had wrecked once and for all the idealized picture of
the fairy-tale prince which Olive Schreiner had painted for herself
before she had met Rhodes. The end had come. She did not thirst
for revenge. As a conclusion to this disappointing chapter she
had to justify herself to her own conscience. Years ago he had
told her that anything she might write after The Story of an African
l?arm would be 'mere twaddle'. Now she would show him that
Olive Schreiner still had something to say to the world. She sat
down and wrote a book to show the monster Rhodes to the world
and to herself. Trooper Peter Halket appeared in London in .
1897 just when the Parliamentary Inquiry was in session. Even
Rhodes* opponents disapproved of the moment chosen for its
publication. The book caused a sensation not only because it
accused Rhodes of the murder, rape, theft and torture committed
by Chartered Company troops in Matabeleland but because of its
frontispiece,, a repulsive picture omitted in later editions, of three

[397]

RHODES OF AFRICA

hanged Natives dangling from trees. It was an unmitigated con-
demnation of Rhodes as a man, a politician and a colonizer.

The last woman to cross Rhodes 5 path was so extraordinary
that he failed to understand her until it was too late. Princess
Catherine Maria Radziwill, nie Countess Rzewuski, came of an
old Polish family. At the age of fifteen she was married to Prince
Radziwill whose family ranked among the leading aristocrats of
three countries. The prince belonged to the junior branch whose
members had no money of their own but were kept by the head
of the house. Catherine Radziwill, through her name, her ravishing
youthful beauty and her intelligence., soon became a greatly
admired member of the court in Berlin where the young couple
occupied the family palace in the Wilhelmstrasse. She became
a friend of the old Kaiser and the Empress and later attached
herself to Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, the consort of Crown
Prince Frederick. She associated not only with the crowned heads
of Europe and with famous statesmen, but also with socialist
agitators, artists, circus riders, authors and journalists. Her
linguistic talent which enabled her to converse in five languages
Russian, Polish, German, French and English made her salon
a cosmopolitan rendezvous.

Princess Catherine's curiosity thirsted for a wider knowledge
of the world. Her temperament demanded an outlet for her
manifold though superficial interests. She loved to talk and
especially to gossip and found a rich field of activity for her
garrulity at the Berlin court. In this hotbed of intrigue, the
Russian Princess had sufficient opportunity to acquaint herself
with international politics. She herself took an active part in it
by reporting interesting details to the Tzar. Bismatck, who was
still in full power at the time, soon found out that this Russian
princess was working against him and an indiscreet novel which
she wrote about Berlin court life offered him a welcome pretext
to have her banished from the Berlin court.

Princess Radziwill began to travel. It was said that she toured
Europe in the company of a circus rider. The allowance which
she received from the Radziwill family could not cover her
extravagances. Pawnbrokers and money-lenders became regular
visitors to her rooms. She flitted from one town to the other,
from one country to the next. Everywhere she succeeded in

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SO MANY WORLDS

forcing her way into political circles after the aristocratic salons
had been closed to her. Politics from being a hobby became an
obsession with her. She believed that she was destined to play
a leading role in international affairs.

The Princess had no inhibitions. Those whom she wanted to
meet she managed to meet somehow. Her greatest efforts were
directed at becoming acquainted with the millionaire rulers of the
financial world. Such friendships, she had discovered, brought
many advantages: one dined and wined well in their homes; the
hospitality of their country seats provided a cheap holiday in
luxury; they all loved to show their importance by dropping
useful tips for the share market. Their share tips one could hawk
to other people and thus establish one's position as a prophetess.

There was one person whom she had not been able to ensnare
in spite of prolonged efforts. Only once did she succeed in
obtaining an invitation to a dinner party in Rhodes' honour, but
she failed to gain his attention.

During the second Matabele campaign when Rhodes was
camping on the veld, his secretary one day handed him a thick
blue envelope which bore a large embossed crown and was
marked 'private'. When he opened the letter, a small Russian gold
coin dropped out. Rhodes had to read through the communica-
tion twice before he could understand it. The coat of arms and
the large crown startled him. Princess Radziwill? Who on earth
was Princess Radziwill? His secretary reminded him that she had
often called at the Burlington Hotel but he had not wished to
receive her.

A strange letter: she wrote that she was 'blessed or cursed with
the gift of second sight* and had had a foreboding that his life,
a life so precious to the British Empire, to the future of South
Africa and also to his many admirers to whom she was proud
to belong was in danger as an attempt on it would be made
within the next six months. She asked him to accept the enclosed
gold coin as a talisman. With Matabele warriors lying in ambush
for him behind every tree it was not difficult, Rhodes decided, to
predict danger to his life even if one was not blessed with the
supernatural faculties of a Cassandra. He told his secretary to
thank the lady in the usual form and, occupied as he was with
more important matters, he immediately forgot about her.

He was reminded of her existence again a few months later

[J99]

RHODES OF AFRICA

when he received another letter. This time she asked him for
advice as to how she should invest a recent inheritance of
150,000. It was more likely that the Princess at the time did not
own even 150,000 farthings, as she was considerably in debt.
Rhodes, though he rarely used a pen, answered the letter per-
sonally. A real princess, and one who apparently owned some
money, could not be given an answer through a secretary. He
declined to give advice, carefully explaining that experience had
taught him how people when they had luck forgot to thank him
and when his tips proved wrong blamed him for their losses.

When Rhodes left London for South Africa in 1900 he was
exhausted. His business had detained him longer than he had
planned, so that he had had to postpone his departure five times.
The Union Line always made great efforts to provide this eminent
passenger with all possible amenities and the greatest comfort in
absolute privacy. At his departure, an official representative of
the ship's company found it necessary to inform him that a
Princess Rad&hvill had inquired several times at their London
office by which ship Mr Rhodes was travelling, but that of course
they had refused to give any information. She must have learnt
about it from other sources, however, because every time Mr Rhodes
cancelled his booking so did the Princess, until finally she booked
her passage on this ship. Of course her request to have a cabin
next to that of Mr Rhodes* suite had been refused, since as usual
the whole wing of the deck had been reserved for Mr Rhodes and
his party. Also as usual, it had been arranged for Mr Rhodes to
use the captain's deck, and in the dining-saloon the usual corner
partition had been reserved for him and his party.

They had just finished the fish course when the door was thrown
open and in swept Princess Radziwill. Dramatically she paused at
the door. Her entrance, as well as her whole appearance, was
obviously designed to cause a. sensation, though her elegance was
a little outmoded and just on the verge of being shop-worn. Her
approach was heralded by a dense cloud of perfume and the
sound of rustling silk, brocade and taffeta, as though to warn
men to be on their guard. According to her own calculations
she was just over twenty, but, in spite of her cosmetic and sartorial
efforts, there remained sufficient evidence of her real age which
was nearer thirty.

With a studied expression of bored unconcern she glanced over

SO MANY WORLDS

the dining-saloon. When she saw Rhodes in a corner she put on
an exaggerated act of sheer surprise and restrained joy. Before
Rhodes had a chance to prepare himself against her menacing
intrusion she stood beside him. He could not help offering her
a chair. Though on his instructions it was pointed out to her
that another table had been reserved for her, she took all her
meals at Rhodes' table.

At first Rhodes was interested in her conversation. She had
come well prepared. The weeks of waiting for her departure she
had spent in reading up everything available on South Africa
and Rhodes, so that he should consider her well informed and
sharing his opinions. During the first few days he was amused
by her stories. She took his interest for encouragement and began
to discuss delicate subjects with such frankness that Rhodes was
often made to blush. She told him about a cruel husband who
was ruining her life so that she had decided to save herself by
a separation. It would take a long time to procure a divorce and
she therefore wanted to spend a year in South Africa.

These confidences made Rhodes feel uneasy. His embarrass-
ment reached its climax when one day the Princess fainted into
his arms. Helplessly Rhodes had to hold his aristocratic burden
until such time as his secretary came to his rescue. For the rest
of the journey Rhodes took his meals in his private saloon.

She came to Groote Schuur so often that Rhodes frequently
had to hide, and when at the end of 1900 he returned from
Rhodesia he was pestered again by her ambuscades. In the mean-
while she had started a political journal, Greater Britain, which
Rhodes had helped to finance. When her paper quoted remarks
which he had uttered casually at table, he declined to discuss
politics any longer with her or in her presence. The Princess,
however, still tried to draw him into political discussions until
finally he had to raise his voice and tell her that she would have
to stay away from his house if she did not comply with his wishes.

In Rhodesia, shortly before Rhodes left for England in July
1901, his doctor and friend Dr Scholtz told him that the Princess
was in financial difficulties, owing about 3,000. Rhodes told
him to pay her debts as well as her fare to England and asked him
to see that she left South Africa as soon as possible. The Princess,
however, stayed on ia Cape Town. She still pretended to be on
the best of terms with Rhodes. Knowing that the surest and

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RHODES OF AFRICA

quickest way of making a rumour public property was to confide
in another woman under the seal of secrecy, she whispered to her
best friend that Rhodes, when in Cape Town, came to see her
every night in her hotel room, entering the hotel in disguise by
a secret passage. A few days later she confessed to the same
friend, again in greatest confidence, that she was engaged to
marry Rhodes but that they both wished to postpone the official
announcement until a later date. Not long afterwards she consulted
her friend as to which rooms she should occupy at Groote Schuur.

Rhodes, who knew nothing about the calumnies spread by the
Princess, arrived in London in July 1901 . His friends were shocked
when they saw him: death was plainly written on his face. His
doctors were anxious to get him out of the heat of London into
a cooler climate. He himself felt ill. The pain in his chest never
stopped and made breathing difficult. He often sat up whole
nights. During the day Rhodes forgot his ailment. He worked
as hard as ever.

Once, when Dr Jameson examined him, Rhodes asked him:
*At any rate, Jameson, death from the heart is clean and quick,
there is nothing repulsive or lingering about it; it is a clean death,
isn't it?*

Dr Jameson was by no means a soft man, but he had to turn
away quickly so as not to show his embarrassment. 'Yes, of
course of course/ he replied and allowed his words to sound
as casual as possible.

Finally his doctors succeeded in persuading him to take a long
rest. He hired a shooting-lodge in Perthshire, to which he
invited his friends, Jameson, Beit, Maguire and others. Among
the guests one week-end was a young red-haired former
Hussar lieutenant who had made a name for himself as a
war correspondent and through a courageous escape from a
Boer war-prisoners' camp. His name was Winston Spencer
Churchill. Though only in his middle twenties this young man
entertained the whole party by his witty stories, quick repartee
and inexhaustible humour. Rhodes, though he had disliked the
father, became very fond of the son, admiring his sparkling
intellect, his energy and his fceal, "powers which/ Rhodes said,
*in conjunction with 'Ms dash and "go", must inevitably bring
him to the front'.

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SO MANY WORLDS

In October 1901 Rhodes together with Beit, Jameson, Metcalfe
and his secretaries travelled to the Continent, It was Rhodes*
first pleasure trip. Besides Brussels and Berlin he knew no other
towns. They first went to Paris, where he felt well enough to spend
many hours visiting museums which he enjoyed immensely. Next
he and his party motored to the South of Italy, after short stops
at Lucerne and Venice. In Florence they stayed for several days.
It was Rhodes' first experience of travelling in a motor-car and
the speed gave him a boyish pleasure.

On his way to and from Beira Rhodes had often passed through
the Suez Canal and every time he had said that the next time he
would spend a few weeks in Egypt. He now travelled from Caird
up the Nile. During the journey he talked for hours about
Egyptian history. The Pharaohs he admired because many of
them, like true 'men of action', had taken up the fight against
Nature to save their nation from destruction by famine. He was
impressed by the ancient irrigation works, especially by the Nile
dam at Assuan, which he compared with his plans to provide
water for the sun-drenched thirsty soil of Rhodesia.

His mind wandered down to his own South African domain.
By now he had probably admitted to himself that the discovery
of the Land of Ophir, of a new Rand reef, would always remain
no more than a 'dream'. One would possibly find other, less
valuable minerals, such as copper and coal there which were
already being mined in paying quantities. He consoled himself
with the thought that the future of the country would depend
largely on its agricultural products. A rich soil was there and a
suitable climate, sufficient and cheap labour and a good transport
system. Rhodesia might easily become the granary and cattle-
kraal of the Empire. And Rhodes, who regarded agriculture as
an industry like any other productive enterprise, had realized
that in order to grow crops or rear cattle, one had to employ
scientific methods and invest a lot of money before profits could
be reaped. He wrote regularly to his farm managers in Rhodesia,
always giving them exact orders on how to proceed with the
next crop. He sent them several bags of Egyptian maize after he
had noticed that it grew there with a minimum of water and under
conditions very similar to those in Rhodesia. These samples of
maize grew exceptionally well on Rhodesian soil and have since
become the standard crop there.

[403]

RHODES OF AFRICA

When Rhodes saw a team of donkeys plodding along the tow-
path of the Nile, he compared them with the far weaker though
larger Rhodesian breed. He selected thirty stallions to be crossed
with the Rhodesian donkey and the result, still noticeable today,
shows Rhodes' great foresight.

In spite of the warm weather Rhodes did not tire of sight-
seeing, especially among the excavated ruins. He loved Egypt.
One evening, sitting on the terrace of his hotel in Cairo, he told
his friends that he could find true happiness in the peace and
pure atmosphere of the desert where, in the shadow of the
Pyramids, he would forget the dirt and accusations flung at him.
He closed his eyes and, speaking softer and slower than he had
ever done before, he painted an almost poetic picture of the quiet
loveliness of the Nile.

Every day, as they travelled south, the Egyptian December
sun became stronger until the heat and the flies, mosquitoes and
other loathsome insects made the journey most unpleasant.
Rhodes' improved health began to deteriorate again so rapidly
that Dr Jameson insisted on an immediate return to England.
Rhodes 7 repeated heart-attacks were not improved by cabled
reports from Cape Town informing him that promissory bills
bearing his endorsement and the signature of the Princess
Racbdwill had been negotiated there.

Rhodes immediately cabled instructions to his Cape Town
manager to insert advertisements in all the papers warning people
that he had never signed any bills and would not be responsible
for them.

In January 1902 he arrived in London. All signs that he had
benefited by his holiday had vanished. A great deal of work as
well as excitement and annoyance awaited him* His health broke
down completely. It was the first time that his energy proved
insufficient to overcome the weakness of his heart. He became
even more impatient than usual when his doctors confined him
to bed. For the pettiest reasons he jumped out of bed, ran across
the room and swore and shouted until he fell into a chair exhausted
and doubled up from the tantalizing pains in his chest. Whoever
dared to argue with him would immediately have a cascade of
curses poured over him. Those who differed with him on any
point were c up to mischief*. He could not bear to be kept waiting.
If he ordered refreshments and they were not brought to him

[404]

SO MANY WORLDS

within a minute or two his face became distorted and black with
rage.

If his friends arrived only a few minutes after the appointed
time he felt neglected and almost ready to cry. To Dr Jameson
he complained: *A third of your life is lost in waiting for people
who fail to keep their appointments and trying to find out if your
friends axe telling the truth/

With the object of removing Rhodes as quickly as possible
from London, where he only insisted on exerting himself in spite
of his serious condition, Dr Jameson advised him to buy a
country estate. Thus Rhodes became the squire of the old Dalham
Hall estate near Newmarket which he bought unseen from
photographs. He made his final decision as soon as he saw in
the game book that 1,700 partridges had been shot there in the
first four days of the season. To Jameson he said jokingly that
he had 'dotted the earth with resting houses, having a shooting-
box in Scotland, his country place near Newmarket, his two
farms in Rhodesia, his fruit-farm in the Cape Western Province,
his little house in Kimberley, his suite in the Burlington Hotel
and, of course, Groote Schuur. And all FU soon need/ he con-
tinued, *as that damned rude fellow said, will be a place six foot
by four six foot by four six . . /

Preparations were already being made for Rhodes to take up
residence at Dalham Hall when news came from Cape Town that
again promissory notes bearing Rhodes* endorsement, to a total
value of about 2 5 ,000, had been negotiated by Princess Radziwill.
She had succeeded in having most of them discounted. Those who
had advanced money to the Princess against these bills now sued
Rhodes when they found that his endorsement was not honoured.

Rhodes fumed with rage. He immediately decided to leave for
Cape Town so as to be present at court. Dr Jameson and other
friends tried to dissuade him from exposing himself to the heat
of a Cape summer, but Rhodes would not hear of asking per-
mission to give evidence on commission in London, fearing
that an admission of his state of health would seriously affect the
share market.

'Damn that woman! Why can't she leave me alone?' he groaned
and, clutching his chest, he sighed: *I know it will upset me. The
heat of Egypt bowled me over, and to go back to the Cape now
that the hot weather has set in is more than I can stand. Look at

[4oj]

RHODES OF AFRICA

my pulsel . . / A last attempt was made to have the case postponed
until cooler weather set in, but reports from Cape Town indicated
that a postponement would be regarded as an admission that
Rhodes was afraid to face the music. Rhodes shouted: 'Me afraid
of facing the music? Me afraid! Of course I'll face the music; damn
that woman!' Friends tried to tell him that after all 25,000 was
a comparatively paltry amount which he should rather forgo
than endanger his health. He replied: 'It's not the money, but no
risk will prevent me clearing my character of any stain in con-
nection with that woman/

On 16 January 1902 Rhodes together with Dr Jameson and
some members of his staff left for Cape Town. The day after bis
arrival the civil case against Rhodes for payment of the bills
came up in court. Rhodes was able to prove that he had never
signed any bill and demonstrated that his signature had been
forged with the help of tracing paper. The Princess, who was
called as witness, did not appear. Rhodes won the case.

Rhodes' legal friends immediately advised him to institute
criminal proceedings for forgery and fraud against the Princess,
but he declared firmly that he was not interested in having her
prosecuted. The Public Prosecutor, however, had already taken
up the case ex offitio and the next day the Princess was arrested,
but admitted to bail.

When the preliminary examination began in the Magistrate's
Court the next day the Princess sent in a medical certificate
excusing her absence. The magistrate decided to hold court in
the cottage which she had rented in Muizenberg.

Rhodes, called as a witness, repeated that he had not signed
any bills and that the letters used by the Princess to convince
people of the incredible fact that he should have given her a
number of blank promissory notes to be filled in by her for any
amount required, were forgeries*

The Princess seemed to be blissfully unaware of her precarious
situation. Haughtily she looked through her lorgnette at the
lawyers and witnesses, giggled into her kce handkerchief or
talked happily to her solicitor. The forgeries she had committed
were of such infantile clumsiness that one wondered how anyone
could have believed in the genuineness of the bills and letters.
One of her silly artifices had been to send herself telegrams in the
name of Rhodes' London lawyers, for which puipose she had

[406]

SO MANY WORLDS

bribed a telegraph boy to alter the name of the Cape Town
sending-office to read London KG*. Probably the men who
discounted the bills, at the enormous rate of 40 per cent, thought
that Rhodes would pay them in the end so as not to be involved
in a scandal.

Taking her cue from the case of the mysterious telegrams at
the Committee of Inquiry, Princess Radsdwill claimed that she
had in her possession discreet letters and confidential documents
which referred to Rhodes and Milner. In the interest of the
British Empire, she could not reveal them though they would
prove her innocence beyond a doubt. She had acted, she said, not
only with the consent of Mr Rhodes, but in his interests in order
to save his reputation. Mr Rhodes, she maintained, was only
being misled by his friends who wanted to destroy her because
she knew too much.

Poor Princess Racbiwill! Up to her neck in debt and with
all her credit exhausted, she had taken these desperate steps in the
hope that Rhodes would not let her down. What was 25,000 to
a man who possessed millions? And now he was allowing his
jealous minions to influence him to be c so nasty' to her. The
prosecutor and magistrate, too, were being 'awfully rude' to a
lady of her rank, making such a fuss about some little stories she
told them as though a woman in trouble wasn't allowed to tell
a few little white lies. If they would only communicate with the
Tsar or her friend the Kaiser; if only her brother were at home
if only they would give her some time. It would be so easy to get
this ridiculous amount of 25,000 not quite 250,000 roubles,
a sum which a Rarewuski would think nothing of betting on a
card in the Nobility Club of St Petersburg'. She would throw the
money in their faces. A shame how they treated Princess RadziwiU,
fife Countess Rzewuski, the friend of Royalty! . . . She had to
suffer because she had believed and still believed in Rhodes. She
would keep quiet and could not reveal her secrets because Cecil
Rhodes was still her friend. He would undoubtedly settle this
trifling matter the next day.

The Princess was cruelly awakened from her day-dreams when
the magistrate announced that the accused was indicted on twenty-
four counts of fraud and forgery. The case was sent for trial at
the Criminal Session of the Supreme Court. A few weeks later
she was sentenced to two years* imprisonment.

[407]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Rhodes left court immediately after giving evidence. When he
arrived at Groote Schuur the pain in his chest was stronger than
ever before. The intensity of the pain increased and spread to his
neck, down his arms and to his shaking hands. He felt as though
somebody was drawing together the inside of his chest with
barbed-wire, pulling it tighter and tighter until his heart could
no longer beat freely and breathing became almost impossible.
Large drops of sweat covered his face. Yet he felt cold and
shivered. "Everything in the room whirled around him. He
could not move.

At first he did not know where he was. It was his own bed.
But how had he got there? There was Dr Jim with his friendly
face, trying hard to smile, leaning over him > holding his hand in
his own strong white hand while with the other he took up a syringe.

*Tell me, Jameson/ Rhodes said almost inaudibly, *tell me, is
this the end, Jameson?*

The doctor swallowed several times before answering: 'Not
quite but it's damned serious.*

Dr Jameson and the other two doctors who attended him could
not keep Rhodes in bed. The next day he was sitting in^the
library with Michell, the former bank manager who was in charge
of all his business and private affairs, discussing his last will and
testament. It bore the date i July 1899 an< ^ was a voluminous
document with several codicils attached. This was his sixth will
and there was not much left in it of the juvenile romanticism with
which he had filled the pages of his first testament written on that
rainy night in Kimberley exactly twenty-five years before.

Rhodes had removed the name of W. T. Stead from the list of
trustees of his estate in 1901. There remained Earl Rosebery,
Earl Grey, Beit, Milner, Michell and Hawkesley, and Rhodes now
directed Michell to add the name of Dr Jameson to the list.

Rhodes' friendship with Stead had lost some of its intimacy
during the passionate days of the Boer War when Stead had been
one of the leading Boer-sympathizers and had pleaded against the
annexation of the Transvaal.

At their last meeting, in 1901, Rhodes told him: 'I would annex
the planets if I could. I often think of that,* Stead shook his head
and said: f l regret that they did not send you to jail at the Inquiry
in 1897.' At the end of the argument Rhodes told Stead: *. . * If
in future you should unfortunately feel yourself compelled to

[408]

SO MANY WORLDS

attack me personally as vehemently as you have attacked my
policy in this war, it will make no difference to our friendship.
I am too grateful to you for all that I have learnt from you to allow
anything you may write or say to make any change in our
relations.* They parted as friends.

Rhodes thumbed through his will. He had put his house in
order. Provision had been made that all his intentions should be
promptly carried out after his death. The value of his property
no one could express in figures since most of his money had been
invested in ventures in Rhodesia and Central Africa where no
immediate returns could be expected. There were millions of
pounds in shares of railways, of telegraphs and of mines all over
Africa from the Cape to deep into Central Africa and of
industrial, commercial and trading companies. His trustees would
find the title-deeds to the tremendous ranches in Rhodesia, to his
farms in the Cape, to his property of Groote Schuur, to valuable
building land in all Rhodesian towns and to mining and water
rights in Rhodesia for which the Rhodesian Government, after
a legal battle, which lasted for twenty years, eventually had to
pay millions to Rhodes* executors. But among all these assets
which represented the fruit of Rhodes' labour over a period of
more than thirty years only the shares of De Beers and Gold-
fields were paying dividends.

All his fortune went into a trust fund to be controlled by his
executors. Groote Schuur, his residence and the adjoining
property, he left as an official residence for the future Prime
Ministers of a united South Africa. With touching forethought
he provided an amount which was to be used to keep for the
future Prime Minister *at least two carriage horses, one or more
carriages and sufficient stable servants . . . keeping and main-
taining in good order the flower and kitchen gardens , . . two
competent men servants to be housed, kept and employed. . . /

His Dalham Hall estate he settled on his brother Colonel Frank
Rhodes and his male heirs, while the remainder went to his brother
Ernest and his male heirs with a provision in order to prevent
a loafer* from enjoying his property that future heirs to the
estate must 'have been for at least ten consecutive years engaged
in some profession or business, such profession or business*
and here Rhodes again showed his dislike for everything military
- *not being that of the Army*.

[409]

RHODES OF AFRICA

His attachment to Ms old college at Oxford he expressed by
leaving Oriel College a sum of 100,000. Remembering the poor
dinners and indifferent wines which had been served to him when
he was entertained by the Dons, he left a further 10,000 *by the
income whereof the dignity and comfort of the High Table may
be maintained by which means the dignity and comfort of the
resident Fellows may be increased*.

The realities of life had taught a maturing Rhodes that the
ideas and ideals which he had cherished in his enthusiasm for
British Imperialism a la Ruskin in his youth would find no under-
standing among the new generation of a new era. For his Secret
Society there was no hope in the future of introducing a Pax
Britannica. Britain had finally established herself as the predominant
world power and all that was needed was a consolidation of her
position which could only be brought about, as Stead had taught
him, by world peace. He wanted to prepare a better form of
Pax T$ritannica> based on a supra-national understanding between
the nations which were linked by racial ties. If Britons, British
Colonials, Americans and Germans were given an opportunity
to know each other better these nations would be drawn closer
together and would form a bloc sufficiently powerful to guarantee
permanent peace.

Such was Rhodes' idea when he founded the Rhodes Scholar-
ship at the University of Oxford by which 60 students from the
British Colonies, 100 Americans and 15 Germans, selected per-
sonally by the Kaiser, were to receive 250 p.a. (the amount
be|ng later augmented by the Trustees) for a period of three years.
Rhodes stipulated that qualification for the scholarship should be
independent of race or religious opinion.

For the selection of the students by the Trustees Rhodes gave
the fallowing qualifications *as mere suggestions for the guidance
of those who will have the choice of students . . . who shall not
be merely bookworms*:

I his literary and scholastic attainments.
II his fondness of and success in manly outdoor sport such as

cricket, football and the like,

III his qualities of manhood, truth, courage, devotion to duty,
sympathy for the protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfish-
ness and fellowship.

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IV his exhibition during school days of moral force and character
and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in his school-
mates. . . *

Rhodes had discussed these qualifications thoroughly with
various people and before he made his final stipulations he had
explained his point of view to Stead and Hawkesley:

'First there are the three qualities. You know I am all against
letting the scholarships merely to people who swot over books,
who have spent all their time over Latin and Greek. But you
must allow for the element which I call "smug" and which means
scholarship. That is to stand for four-tenths. Then there is
"brutality", which stands for two-tenths. Then there is tact and
leadership, again two-tenths, and then there is "unctuous recti-
tude"', two-tenths. . . .*

With trembling hands he put bis signature to the last codicil.
He was exhausted. Another attack followed within the next few
weeks. Again he could not lie in bed as the doctors had prescribed.
Listlessly he dragged himself from one room to another, resting
on a couch for a few minutes, Changing over to a chair and then
wandering through the rooms of Groote Schuur gasping for
breath, 'like a caged animal', as one of his secretaries said. A wind-
less heat-wave made it impossible for him to sit outside. Even in
the darkened rooms the heat was becoming unbearable. His whole
body was bathed in perspiration. Every piece of clothing was too
much; even the lightest pyjamas he tore open.

Sometimes, towards evening, he would ride in his motor-car.
He took a childish delight in whizzing along the road at the
devilish speed of 20 m.p.h. It made him feel better.

The doctors, hoping that he would find some relief at the sea-
side, sent him to Muizenberg, an idyllic fishing village on False
Bay, where he had recently bought a simple cottage in preparation
for building a house there. The cooling sea breeze allowed him
to breathe more freely. The spasms in his chest became less
painful. For hours he would sit in front of his cottage looking at
the rollers breaking into bubbling foam against the t ocks below.
But then there followed nights of agony, with the terrifying
feeling that the poor labouring heart had come to a stop. He
moaned and groaned and wanted to cry out. He would not have
a nurse. One of his secretaries always sat beside him. Sometimes,

RHODES OF AFRICA

in his dreadful struggle, Rhodes would ask him to hold his hand
or to cool his hot head by putting his hand on his forehead.

A specially large window was knocked out of the front wall of
the three-roomed cottage to give him as much fresh sea air as
possible. The thatched roof was opened in various places and
buckets of ice placed there, and a fan was installed over his
bed.

He could no longer get out of bed. His legs had become drop-
sical. Silver tubes had to be inserted to drain the fluid from
his body. For a day or two he would feel slightly relieved. He
was propped up in bed so that he could watch the road and the
little fleet of fishing-boats in the bay. His breathing was easier
when he sat up, but the efforts to raise himself were so strenuous
that often his head would drop back.

One day he asked Toni to bring him a file out of his desk.
The doctors were afraid that he would start working again and
thus cause a new, perhaps the final, attack. Out of an envelope,
however, Rhodes took several small amateur photographs. For
some minutes he stared at them, until they dropped to the floor.
Dr Jameson picked them up: they were snapshots of his eldest
brother's grave: *A great, a very great gentleman, Herbert was/
came Rhodes' soft hoarse voice. Toni was called again at mid-
night: *I am sick of the damn jellies, beef teas and custards, Toni,
these damn doctors force me to swallow. Grill me a couple of
nice chops on an open fire as we had them on the veld. And
bring me with it a tankard of iced champagne and stout the old
Kirnberley mixture/

Toni, afraid to let his master break the prescribed strict diet,
reported Rhodes' request to Dr Jameson. The doctors knew that
he had only a few more days to Hve at the most and that up to
now death had been delayed only by his iron constitution. Dr
Jameson therefore replied: *Let him have it. Nothing will hurt
him any longer/

It gave the doctor and the servant great pleasure to see the
patient finish his meal with a ferocious appetite, while he poured
down the cooling drink in quick large gulps, sighing: *Ah, that
makes a man of one!' A few days later, also at midnight, he felt
inclined for a guinea fowl and a bottle of Hock. Soon afterwards,
however, he was again plagued by the agony of a choking attack.
In spite of being convulsed with piercing pains he no longer

SO MANY WORLDS

complained or groaned. Though his face was contorted, only a
soft sigh escaped his lips. When the attack had lessened and he
was again alone, Toni and one of the doctors in attendance in the
next room heard the dying man talk. They thought that he might
be delirious or talking in his sleep. Rhodes, however, was wide
awake. From the daily Bible lessons which the children of the
Vicarage had had to endure before they were allowed to play,
much had remained in his memory. Now, on the verge of death,
he wanted to draw up the balance-sheet of his life. When Rhodes
had wished to reason with someone he had always put his
arguments in the form of questions to which he supplied his own

answers: 'You'll ask and I answer you fairly 5 In a colloquy

with God he now put the questions and gave the answers, count-
ing up frankly and ruthlessly all his shortcomings, faults, sins and
crimes.

Did the ghost of Grobler, the Transvaal envoy in Matabeleland
who had been killed in ambush, appear to him? Did he see the
regal figure of Lobengula, dying on his flight, robbed of his
country? Did he remember the masses of black corpses mown
down by machine-gun fire in Mashonaland and Matabeleknd?
Could he hear the piercing shrieks emanating from the caves in the
Matopos where women and children had been dynamited to force
their men to surrender? Was he disturbed by the tears of the
numerous mothers, wives and sweethearts who longed for the
young soldiers buried under a wooden cross in South Africa?
Did he recall the burnt homesteads of thousands of Boers, the
women and children who had died in concentration camps? Was
his conscience troubled by the thousands of pensioners and
widows, the little folk who had lost the savings of a lifetime
through Chartered shares and were now paupers? Did he think
of the thousands of strong healthy Natives who had come to work
in the mities of Kimberley and die Rand and went back to their
kraals with maimed limbs or their lungs eaten away by phthisis,
or of those, more fortunate, who were killed instantly by a rock,
a fall or a machine? Perhaps he compared his own fate with that
of the man to destroy whom he had devoted almost thirty years
of his life. Did he visualize, now, in the struggle with death, this
venerable old man Paul Kruger, almost an octogenarian, sitting
in a villa in Switzerland, a homeless lonely refugee, his small wise
elephant-eyes reddened by tears, his voice hoarse from praying,

[413]

RHODES OF AFRICA

Ms once imposing body bent by sorrow, longing for his land, his
family, and the blessed soil of the Transvaal?

Cecil Rhodes could not have been fully satisfied with his
achievements. In this hour of departure he recited Job's lament
that he had not died in infancy:

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have
slept; then had I been at rest with kings and counsellors of the
earth, which built desolate places for themselves. . . .

Yes, he had done his job. He had painted the map of southern
Africa red, British red. For his 'dreams* he had sacrificed his
health, his life and all that he had gained from gold and diamonds.
And the result? He had not intended that the Imperial Factor
should step in and take over so that the military gentlemen and
civil servants and politicians, from 6,000 miles away, should rule
half a continent blindfold by a policy of vengeance. Cecil Rhodes
had to learn that, after all, he had only been a pawn on the chess-
board of British Imperialism. In Whitehall South Africa had lost
her significance as an individual unit. For the urgency of British
imperial global strategy, for Britain's economic life, South Africa
bore value only as a link in the British Empire. In helping to forge
this link Rhodes had been welcomed, but if he had dared to
separate the link and hammer it into an independent ring he would
have been stopped.

A deep sigh escaped Rhodes' tortured chest. A stanza from
Tennyson's In Memoriam came to his mind and he spoke it slowly
like a prayer:

So many worlds, so much to do,
So little done, such things to be. ...

To the astonishment of Dr Jameson who had just entered the

room he muttered over and over again: *So much to do So

little done So much to do. . . /

As he had so often done in discussions with his friend Stead,
he mused on the sense of Life: 'From the cradle to the grave
what is it? Three days at the seaside. Just that and nothing more.
But although it is only three days, we must be doing something,
I cannot spend my time throwing stones into the water. But
what is worth while doing?'

SO MANY WORLDS

He became quite upset when he was told that the Archbishop
intended to come and see him. No, he did not want him. He had
his own religion which did not need a church or a priest. He
asked his secretary to pass him a little book. The worn binding
and soiled pages with numerous pencil marks indicated that the
owner must have carried it with him for many years and made use
of it constantly and intensely. It was a pocket edition of Marcus
Aurelius' Meditations. His 'pocket bible', Rhodes used to call it.
Wherever he went the little book always had to be handy and in
his bedroom it was kept on his night-table. He pointed to a
passage, heavily underlined, and asked that it be read to him.
As the secretary, his voice almost choking, began to read how
the Roman Emperor consoled those who feared the approach of
death, the dying man's lips moved as though pronouncing each
word:

You have been a citizen of the great world-city. Five years or
fifty, what matters it? To every man his due as law allots. Why then
protest? No tyrant gives you your dismissal, no unjust judge, but
nature, who gave you the admission. It is like the praetor discharging
some player whom he has engaged "But the five acts are not
complete; I have played but three/ Good: Life's drama, look you,
is complete in three. The completeness is in his hands who first
authorized your composition, and now your dissolution. Neither
was yoi#r work. Serenely take your leave; serene as he who gives
you the discharge.

He rested for a while. Toni was called: 'Bring me the Argus
that I can see what they write about my illness These damn
medicos never tell one the real truth/ When the doctors had seen
that he would last only a few more days, his friends, knowing
that the published bulletins would only upset him, had had a
special copy printed daily which stated that he was making good
progress and that a quick recovery could be expected. To cheer
him up they had also altered the quotations of his shares which
had dropped considerably after the news of his illness to show
a rising tendency.

The equinoctial storms which usually bring cooling north-
westerly winds and often rain had not arrived towards the end
of March. The heat-wave over Cape Town and its suburbs con-
tinued with unabated intensity. Gasping for air, his face puffy

RHODES OF AFRICA

and purple, his clammy hands holding his aching chest, he lay
motionless as though waiting for death. Suddenly Jameson
noticed that he was trying to turn his face away from the window,
while muttering almost inaudibly: *Damn that woman! Why can't
she leave one alone?' Jameson instinctively looked out of the
window. There indeed he saw the heavy figure of Princess
Radziwill, decked out in her usual shabby finery, about to pass
Rhodes' cottage again in her peculiar gliding gait.

He was still fully aware of what was going on around him.
Once, when he heard that his servant George, a Coloured *boy',
had been rude to someone at the gate, he scolded him and
punished him by making him sit up with him the whole night.
He ordered him to sit up straight in a chair opposite him. The
tired servant, when he thought his master had fallen asleep, began
to make himself more comfortable, but Rhodes had noticed the
movement and told him, shaking his fist at him jokingly: *Sit
there you just sit thereP

Besides Toni, all three of his secretaries were constantly in
attendance, together with three doctors and his brother Elmhirst
who had just arrived from England on holiday. A few of his
friends were admitted to the sickroom for a few minutes at a time,
Molteno was so touched by the "tragical and pitiful sight' that
he could not speak. Afterwards he said: *I can compare Rhodes
now to a great setting sun, low down in the west, and the con-
suming fire within was burning him up/

Garrett came to see him and also had to hide his emotions when
he saw Rhodes Very stoical and noble about it after the end was
in sight, only sometimes there was a caged-soul look in his eyes'.

On about 22 March the doctors noticed that their patient was
slowly sinking. He had to be kept almost permanently under
oxygen. The news was flashed over the whole world. Editors sent
instructions to their 'morgues 9 to prepare the necrologues of
Cecil Rhodes.

Neither the contemporary writers sitting in judgment over
him, nor later biographers, could do Cecil Rhodes full justice.
The former were too close to a period of transition, with its
birth of Britain's African colonies and all the ugly labour con-
nected with the consolidation of the British Empire. Thus, no
matter whether the opinions on Rhodes were favoutable o
condemning, they were all slanted in accordance with the events

SO MANY WORLDS

of the time. Men of the twentieth century, on the other hand, can
have less understanding of a 'man of action* like Rhodes, the
typical product of a time of forceful expansion in political,
economic and social spheres. The political morality of our times
has changed. The nineteenth century had a different moral code,
especially in colonial matters, from what we pretend to have
today. Some of his contemporary judges could thus come nearer
to what is probably an unbiased opinion of Rhodes than we can
arrive at today.

J. C. Molteno, in his memoirs, came to the following con-
clusion:

The ordinary man cannot judge Rhodes, for he cannot understand
him. The world can tolerate few men like Rhodes, and certainly
only one at a time. Some think and say he was the last great English-
man, One may not say it aloud, but think it, thank God, and Rhodes
was man enough not to think but to say it. His ambition and his
knowledge of his bad health were his only excuses.

No one loved him more than W. T. Stead. Thus his final
judgment may be accepted as a fairly just one:

For with all his faults, the man was great, almost immeasurably
great, when contrasted with the pigmies who pecked and twittered
in his shade. It is seldom in the annals of the empire that one man
has been permitted in his brief career to illustrate both the qualities
which build up empires and faults which destroy them. . . .

Garrett called Rhodes an 'historical necessity 9 . Ex-President
Cleveland, on hearing about Rhodes' illness, remarked to a South
African parliamentarian visiting Washington: "America would
pay three hundred million dollars for Cecil Rhodes. You have got
him for nothing; make the most of himP

During his lifetime two novels were published in which Rhodes,
in very transparent disguise, was the main figure: Anthony Hope's
The God in the Car and Morley Roberts' The Colossus. In the latter
work the Author describes Loder (Rhodes) as 'the concentrated
essence of England':

He was a representative, and 'not an individual; his passions,
thoughts, pkns, and desires had the force and vagueness charac-
teristic of all Britons, not of one. . . . He is not ordinary: he is a
microcosm; you ask absurdities when you ask him to be moral with

[417]

RHODES OF AFRICA

the morality of Brixton. You might as well require geography to be
moral or electricity or a steam engine. . . . He is not a man; he is a
kind of floating island, a movable England, the colonizing, grabbing
instinct made concrete. . . . Behind his nature was the sombre and
powerful genius of the English nation. It worked, as he worked; it
was strong and it was petty; it was cruel, it was kind; it knew no
scruples, yet sometimes shied at very shadows; it was inexorable as
death, energetic as the sun itself, as cruel as hate, as childlike as mere
folly bland, bktant, inevitable, humorous. . . .

An old enemy, Wilfrid S. Blunt, could not even let this sad
occasion go by without some biting remarks:

. . . Rhodes was one of those of whom one always had to ask oneself:
*Quel intfaet peut-il avoir en mourant? ... I think he really blundered
and blustered and pretended to be wise to people who looked upon
him, on account of his first successes, as an oracle. I have seen just
the same thing at Homburg in the old gambling days, when a man
who had broken the bank once was followed by admiring crowds,
who credited him with supernatural intelligence, and went on
believing in him till the day he lost all and disappeared. . . .

The newspaper men, anxiously waiting for the news of Rhodes'
death, were surprised to learn on 23 March that Rhodes would
sail for England in three days' time.

The news was a fact. On Sunday afternoon, 23 March, Rhodes
thought that he felt better, a symptom known as euphoria which
clearly indicated that the end was near. Rhodes declared that he
wanted to go to England. He was like a lion wanting to go to
his old den to die. It was no use arguing with him. It would
only have distressed him and caused a new attack. Df Jameson
only told him that transport over the bad roads might kill him
before he reached the ship. Rhodes remained adamant. Workmen
had to work day and night to install electric fans, a refrigerating
plant and an oxygen tent in the cabins reserved for Rhodes in the
mailship Saxon.

Even on the morning of Wednesday, 26 March, Rhodes hoped
that he would be able to sail in the afternoon. Towards midday
he became unconscious. While Rhodes was fighting his last battle
for his life a telegram arrived from Naples; 'God be with you.
Jan Hofmeyr/ Rhodes was no longer able to grasp this token of

[418]

SO MANY WORLDS

reconciliation from an old friend who had not spoken to him for
more than six years.

Rhodes awoke from his stupor in the afternoon, but he soon
became restless and his distorted face showed that he was in pain.
His eyes were wide open. In a soft voice he sang to himself. It
sounded like a hymn. Dr Jameson had just gone out of the room
for a smoke. In a clear voice Rhodes asked for Jameson. He took
his friend's hand and held it in a weak grip. His voice was hoarse
as he muttered to Jameson: 'So little done, so much to do.'

A few minutes before six o'clock he turned his head slightly
and closed his eyes. Dr Jameson did not need to feel his pulse:
he knew that Cecil J. Rhodes was dead.

INDEX

INDEX

A K b- v JL f * r ' .. !>
Abercorn, Duke of, 175, 00

Aborigines Protection Society,

91, 92, 96, 102, 180, 268
Afrikaans, 74
Afrikaner Bond, 74-6, 80, 94,

Alcock, Sir Rutherford, 43-4
Allen, James Lane, T& O<?/r

Invisible 9 249
Amalgamated Gold Fields of

South Africa; see Gold Fields

of South Africa
Arnold, Sir Edwin, 44, 172

Babyaan, 137, 158, 183, 334
Bailey, Abe, 281, 297
Baines, Tom, 139, 140, 179
Baker, Herbert, 243-4, 246
Balfour, Arthur, 170, 220
Barkly West, 69-70, 19^-6
Barnato, Barney, 106-23, 128,

281, 297, 360-2
Barnato, Harry, 107-9
Barotseland, 207, 209
Bechuanaland, 27, 84-7, 89-92,
95, 102, 104^ 231, 267-70,
369; see Bechuanaland police,
Goshenland, Stellaland
Bechuanaland Exploration Com-
pany, 168-9

Bechuanaland police, 155, 186,

,v' 1 88, 191, 198-9, 201, 210,
227, 2369, 268, 288, 299

Beira, 223-7

Beit, Alfred, 56-9, 126-8, 149,
168, 179, 222, 297; Barnato
transactions, no, 114 17, 120
122; friendship with Rhodes,
58-60, 68, 277, 402, 403, 408;
in British S. A. Company, 169,
170, 175, 226, 266, 324;
Johannesburg rising, 278, 285,
300, 323, 341, 349

Belgium, 77, 89, 198, 205

Bell, Moberly, 163

Berlin, congress on colonies, 89

Berliner National Zeitung, 356

Bishop's Stortford, 3

Bismarck, Prince, 43, 87-8, 91,
170, 171, 206, 250-1, 305

Bloemfbntein, Bishop of, 150

Blue ground, 50, 109

Blunt, W. S., 418

Boers, 13, 19, 26-7, 77, 78, 84,
91, 99, 100, 139; see Kruger,
Pretoria Convention, Trans-
vaal

Booth, General, 220

Bosungwana, 239-40

Bower, Sir Graham, 144, 155,
158, 185, 242, 269, 84, 286,
289,290, 293, 35*, 353

Brand, President, 132

British South Africa Company:
forming of, 169, 179, 196;
Charter, 177, 178, 180-1,

[4*3]

INDEX

British South Africa Company

contd.

185, 190-1, 304, 315, 318,
320, 324-5, 351, 353; support
for, 175^ 181; opposition to,
177, 189; police force., 202,
208, 223, 226; financial fluctua-
tions, 222, 229, 230, 253, 266,
320, 328, 330, 364; acquisi-
tions, 208, 209, 235, 240

Bullet, General Sir Redvers, 381

Bullingdon Club, 36

Billow, Baron Bernhard von,

373> 375* 376 .
Burdett-Coutts, Baroness, 174
Burgers, President, 77
Burns, Robert, 250
Butler, Sk William, 377

Cambridge, Duke of, 339
Cambridge University, 4
Cameroons, 89
Cape Colony, 5, 70-1, 73, 76,

87, 214, 298
Cape Parliament, 69, 324; see

Progressive Party; see also

under Rhodes
Cape Times 9 66, 265, 365
'Cape to Cairo', 44-5, 171-2,

174, 175, 178, 181, 205, 213,

253

Cape Town, 72
Cape Town, Archbishop of,

313-14

'Caprivi ZipfeP, 206
Carrington, General Sir Fred-

erick, 332
Cawston, George, 165, 168-70,

Central Search Association, 168

Cetywayo, 24

Chaka, 138-9, 239

Chamberlain, Joseph, 41, 95,
164-5, 167, 173, 189, 267-9,
296-305, 317-18, 321-2, 327,
343-4, 348, 350-1, 353-6,
366, 370, 378-9

Churchill, Lord Randolph, 96

Churchill, W. S., 402

Coal, 193, 370

Cohen, Louis, 108

Coillard, Francois, 256-7

Colenbrander, Johann, 3 3 45 ,

336

Colesberg Kopje, 21
Colquhoun, Archibald, 208
Committee of Inquiry; see Jame-
son's Raid
Copper, 370

Cotton planting, 9, 1 1-14
Cronje, General, 307
Cronwright, Samuel, 257-8, 396
Currie, Sir Donald, 11516

D

Daily Chronicle, 209
Daily Mail, 378
Daily News, 320
Daily Telegraph^ 42-4
Dalham Hall, 405, 409
Dalston, 175
Damaraknd, 88
Dawson, James, 147
De Beers Central Company, no
De Beers Consolidated Mines,
122, 124, 125, 168, 181, 193,

222, 254, 28O

De Beers Diam6nd Mining Com-
pany, 50, 64, 83, 121, 123

De Beers Mine, 28-9, 49, 64, 68 9
no, in, 116, 121

[4*4;

INDEX

Delagoa Bay, 12, 211-12, 306-7

de la Key, 93, 105

d'Erlanger, Baron, 175

de Souza, Manuel Antonio, 208

De Villiers, Lord, 259

de Wet, Sir Jacobus, 228

de Worms, Baron, 167

de Worms, G. & A., 175

Diamond Syndicate, 124

Diamonds, 9-10, 12-13, 16-22,
28, 32, 33, 47-9, 51, 65,
71, in, 112, 137-8, 255-6;
see Blue ground, De Beers,
Diamond Syndicate, French
Diamond Mining Company,
Illicit Diamond Buying,
Kimberley

Dingaan, 239

Disraeli, Benjamin, 39, 40, 45

Dunn, John, 24

Dunvegan Castle, 341

Durban, 29

Dutch, 70-1, 74; see Afrikaner

Dutch East India Company, 26

Du Toit, Reverend S. J., 74, 75,
90, 94, 98, 102, 228

Eton, 4

Exeter Hall; see Aborigines Pro-
tection Society

Exploring Company, 149, 158,
165, 166, 168; see Maund, E. A.

Fairfield, K, 300, 301, 318
Farquhar, Sir Horace B., 175
Ferreira, Colonel Ignatius, 229
Fife, Duke of, 175
Fort Charter, 203
Fort Macloutsie, 210
Fort Salisbury, 203, 209, 234
Fort Victoria, 203, 233-4
Fortnightly Review, 163, 173
France, 89, 205
Freemasonry, 36
Free State Express, 219
French Diamond Mining Com-
pany, no, 117-19
Fry, John, 148

Edward, Prince of Wales, 174-5,

*53 345* 362, 376

Ellis, Havelock, 392

England: expansion in Africa,
19, 44, 91-2, 143-6, 151, i5 2 >
166-7, 171-3, 226, 238, 298;
policy in Cape Colony, 70, 71,
74, 76; prestige, 356; relations
with Transvaal, 40-1, 78, 79,
90, 194, 267, 274, 300, 377-^5;
treaties with Germany and
Portugal, 206-8

Garrett, Edmund, 265, 277, 292,
*93> 33*> 343* 345> 365, 4*6,
417

Gaulois, 302

Gaza concession, 224

Gazaland, 223, 224, 227

Germany, 40, 42, 77, 87-91, 141,
143, 170, 173, 187, 198, 205-7,
302, 35~9> 375-6; see
Bismarck, Wilhelm II

Gibbon, Edward, 249-52

Gifford, Lord, 165, 168-70, 175,
179

[425

INDEX

Gladstone, W. E., 19, 41, 43-53
78, 79, 88-90, 95, 171-2

Gold: concessions, 137-59; dis-
coveries of, 27, 39, 40, 84,
126-8, 139, 209; methods of
mining, 126, 193-4, 264, 280;
prices, 193, 265, 360-1; pros-
pects, 181, 221-3, 229-30,
253, 266, 298, 328, 364; see
Gold Fields of South Africa,
Ophir, Witwatersrand

Gold Fields of South Africa, 130,
131, 169, 181, 193, 195, 223,
254

Goold- Adams, Colonel H., 236-9

Gordon, General, 81-2, 334

Goschen, Lord, 171

Goshenland, 85, 92-4, 97, 102

Greater Britain, 401

Grey, Earl, 300, 408

Grey, Lord, 175, 303, 319, 325-7,

330, 333* 365, 368
Griqualand, 13, 19, 42, 69
Grobler, Pieter, 142, 146-7
Grobler Treaty, 142, 145
Grootboom, John, 334, 338-9
Groote Schuur, 243-5, 247, 259,

276, 326, 364, 409
Gun-running, 12-13

Harrow, 4
Hatchards Ltd., 251
Hatzfddt, Count, 306
Hawkesley, Bourchier, 318-19,

324, 327, 352-4,408,411
Heany, Major, 283, 284, 289
Heligoland, 206
Helm, Reverend C. D., 152-3,

156-8, 174

Hicks-Beach, M., 370, 371
Hofmeyr, Jan Hendrik, 74-6,

80-1, 89, 92, 95, 195, 197-8,

203-4, 217, 289, 293-5, 3 13-15,

317,418

Hohenlohe, Prince, 306-8
Holden, Captain, 283
Holstein, Baron von, 305-8, 373
Hope, Anthony, The God in the

Car, 417

I

Ice-machine, 29

Illicit Diamond Buying, 58, no,

124, 125
Investor's Review, 357

H

Hamilton, Frederic, 277, 284
Hammond, J. H., 283, 314, 323
Harcourt, Sir William, 217, 231,

321, 3*6, 327, 346-50, 351-5,

371

Harris, Frank, 256
Harris, Dr Rutherford, 260-1,

268^ 277-8, 281-5, *95> 500-1,

303-4, 319, 341, 343, 350, 351

J

Jameson, Leander Starr: early
history, 53-5; friendship with
Rhodes, 54-6, 58, 68, 129,
241, 253, 261, 262, 344-5,
3 67-8, 402-6, 408, 41 2, 41 8-1 9;
Barnato transactions, no, 112,
1 14, 1 22; relations with Loben-
gula, 158-9, 187, 189-92, 201,
233-41; part in British S. A.
Company, 169, 223, 227-9,

[426]

INDEX

232; part in expansion of gold
territories, 202, 208, 222, 224;
smallpox, 85, 239; see Jame-
son's Raid

Jameson's Raid, 277-8, 281-3,
285-90, 293-5, 304-7, 309,
310, 314, 317, 321, 323, 326,
389, 397; Inquiry into, 327,
343-58

Joel, S. B., 114, 122, 281, 314,
361

Johannesburg, 126, 130, 132,
193-4, 264

Johannesburg rising, 265-79,
281-95, 299-303, 314; see also
Jameson's Raid

Johannesburg Star, 293

Johnson, Frank, 201, 203

Johnston, Harry Hamilton,
171-3

Joubert, Pieter, 94, 140, 212,
227, 232

Kitchener, Lord, 371, 372, 376,
383,384

Knorr, Admiral, 308

Knutsford, Lord, 154, 165-8,
170, 177, 178

Koopmans-DeWet, Mrs, 388-90

Kruger, Paul: leadership of
Boers, 78, 98-100, 232, 368,
413-14; expansion of Trans-
vaal, 86, 94, 97, 100-2, 142,
171; relations with Europe, 91,
146, 296, 299, 306, 308;
relations with Rhodes, 102,

105, I 3 I, I94~5, 211-12, 220,

227-8, 265-7, 376, 377> 379;
distrust of foreigners, 132-4;
Johannesburg conspiracy,
292-4, 323, 361; see Boers,
Transvaal

K

Kaiser; see Wilhelm II
Katanga basin, 370, 373
Kekewich, Colonel R. G., 381,

383, 384

Khama, 146-7, 238
Kimberley, 16-18, 21, 22, 24,

34, 51, 58,67,69, 380-3
Kimberley Central Company,

107, no, in, 113, 115-17,

119-21, 123
Kimberley Club, 107, 121, 122,

201, 382

Kimberley Literary Society, 257
Kimberley Mine, 21, 28, 106,

109-11, 113, 115, 117
Kipling, Rudyard, 247

Labouchere, Henry du Pre, 167,
176, 241, 320, 324, 326, 327,

346, 348,349 ; 353
Lawson, Sir Wilfred, 344
Lendy, Captain, 233-4
Leonard, Charles, 277, 281-6,

288
Leopold II of the Belgians, 43,

90, 372-3
Leslie, David, 40
'Letter of Invitation', 287-8,

304, 378
Lewanika, 209
Leyds, Dr, 105, 301, 306, 375,

380

Lippert concession, 189, 232
Lippert, Edward A., 57, 149,

187-9
Lloyd George, 378

INDEX

Lobengula: negotiations with
concession hunters, 137, 139-

142, 144-6, 148-5 1, 165, 168,
169, 171, 182-4, 188, 189;
Rudd concession, 152-9, 167,
178, 1 86; letters to Queen
Victoria, 165-6, 185-6, 235;
resistance to British S. A.
Company, 190-2, 202, 220;
elimination of, 232-42; treasure
of, 138, 183, 232, 236, 239, 240;
see also under Jameson

Loch, Sir Henry Brougham,
199-201, 209-13, 226-8, 231,
234, 236, 237, 240, 269, 299
300

Lodge, Senator Henry Cabot,

255

London Convention, 1884, 142,

143, 171, 267

London Missionary Society, 152,

268

Lotje, 137, 157, 183
Low, Sir Sidney, 163

M

Mackenzie, Reverend John, 91-3,

96, 97, 102, 176
MacMahon, General, 43
MacNeill, Swift, 160-1
Maguire, T. R., 34, 149, 150,

*5 6 > i75> 184, 3 2 > 3 J 9> 354,

402

Majuba Hill, 78, 142
Manicaland, 207-8, 224-7
Marcus Aurelius, 252, 415
Marks, Sammy, 376
Martin, Sir George, 247
Martin, Sir Richard, 329, 338
Marx, Karl, 37

Mashonaland, 141, 158, 165, 190,
192, 198-203, 206, 209-11,

220-2, 2.27-30, 232-4

Matabele, 139, 236-9, 328-38
Matabeleland, 27, 1383 139, 141,

1 60, 162; see Lobengula
Matabeleland Scandal^ The, 241
Mauch, Karl, 27
Maund, E. A,, 149, 152, 150-8,

165, 166

Maund concession, 179
Meade, Sir Robert, 300, 351
Merriman, John Xavier, 25, 197,

203, 292, 317, 324, 363
Metcalfe, Charles, 34-5, 169,

173. 403

Methuen, Lord, 383
Michell, Sir Lewis, 362, 408
Milner, Sir Alfred, 366-9, 377,

378, 381, 384, 385,407,408
Milner, Lord, 220
Missionary Road, 27, 83, 84, 86,

87
Moffat, Reverend J. S., 145-7,

151, 152, 154, 157, 158, 183,

185, 186, 232, 235; see MofFat

Treaty

Moffat, Robert, 139, 145
Moffat Treaty, 171
Molteno, J. C, 197, 363, 366,

416, 417

Morning Leader ; 320
Moscow Gazette, 356
Mount Hampden, 203

N

Namaquaknd, 88
Napoleon, 249
Natal, 5, 9

News of the World, 378
428]

INDEX

Newton, Sir Francis, 144, 155,

158, 234, 269, 351
New York World, 316-17, 380
Nineteenth Century, The, 204-5
Norris, J., 259-60
Nome lie Kerne, 379
Nyasaknd, 173, 206
Nyasaland agreement, 179

O

Ophir, Gold of, 27, 84, 127, 176,

182, 210, 403

Orange Free State, 19, 1701
Oriel College, Oxford, 31, 410
Oriental Company, no
Oxford University, 30-45, 83,

376; see Oriel College, Rhodes

Scholarship

Paarl, 197

Pall Mall Gazette, 161-3

Parnell, Charles Stuart, 160, 161,

163, 164

Peacock, Sophia, 5, 8, 9
Pfeil, Count, 150
Phillips, Lionel, 279, 299, 300,

3*4> 3*3

Pickering, N. E., 68-9, 129
Plumer, Colonel, 330
Pondoland, 240
Forges, Jules, 57
Portugal, 77, 89, 141, 143, 191,

198, 205, 207-8, 223-7, 36
Pretoria Convention, 79, 90
Progressive Party, 363, 378
Prout, Colonel, 371
Fung we River, 224-6

R

Radziwill, Princess, 398-402,
404-7, 416

Railways, 29, 91, 132-3, 168-9,
177, 193, 195, 211, 215, 223,
253, 266-7, 359, 368-74

Rand; see Witwatersrand

Reade, Winwood, The Martyr-
dom of Man, 25

'Red Caps', 21, 28

Renny-Tailyour, E. R., 149, 187,
188

Review* of Reviews, 254, 324, 378

Rhodes, Cecil John:

I, General: birth and educa-
tion, 6-8, 10, 12, 15, 19, 20,
31-3, 34-6, 44, 45, 83; char-
acter, 5-8, 15, 16, 23, 33, 37,
55, 63, 67, 113, 216, 244,
250, 260-1, 263, 363; health,
9, 26, 31, 46, 47, 52, 68, 215,

216, 262-3, 3 2<5 > 359~ 6o 3 6 3>
367-8, 388, 402, 404-6, 408,
411-13, 415-16; love of talk-
ing, 24, 35, 60, 72; interests
in art, literature and history,
25, 247-52; social status, 33-6,
244, 253-4, 324, 366; reputa-
tion, 67, 97, 104, 125, 248,

*5 8 > 339> 37 6 ; 'sq 11 ^ 11 ^ 70,
82, 161, 182, 195, 204, 254,
256-7, 367; interest in power,
112, 114, 128, 254, 365}
relations with Press, 161-3,
176, 200, 204-5, 256, 326;
treatment of natives, n, 15,
250, 328-9, 33,5-7* 38*; agricul-
tural activites^ 26-7, 218, 367,
403-4; interest in flowers,
245 -6; private 200, 246; houses
and privateproperty, 26-7, 132,
175, 243-5, 405; entertaining,

[429]

INDEX

Rhodes, Cecil John contd*
259-60; attitude to women,
386-402, 406-7; private in-
come, 254, 275-6; honours and
achievements, 252, 376, 414,
416-18; friendships, 24, 53-6,
58, 59, 68-9, 8l ~ 2 > I2 9> 403;
see also Schreiner, W. P.;
death, 418-19; wills, 62-3,
69, 220, 339, 362, 408-11

II. 'Business Activities; goes
to Africa to plant cotton, 9,
11-14; activities in diamonds,

64-7, 83, 107, 110-25,
interests in Bechuanaland, 27,
83, 85, 86, 89, 92-7, 101-4,
209-10, 369; activities in gold,
126-9, X 3> *3*> 177, I95>
222-4; activities in Matabele-
knd, 143-59? l8 4-9> 2 3 2 "~42,
256, 330-8; work for British
S. A. Company, 160, 162-82,
220-1, 223, 230, 364

III* ^Political Activities: in-
fluence of Ruskin on, 37, 38,
60; writes to Disraeli, 39;
imperialism, 60-3, 68, 333;
wish to 'eliminate the imperial
factor', 79, 86, 97, 105, 164,
176, 195, 205, 213, 238; plans
for unity and expansion in
S. Africa, 73, 104, 205, 220,
264; in Cape Parliament, 69-
72, 83, 88, 197, 198, 203-4,
206-7, 214-15, 217-19, 310,
314-15, 363, 365-6; alliance
with Afrikaners, 74-6, 80,
197-8, 217; belief in federa-
tion, 160-1, 205, 385; rela-
tions with Kruger, 133, 142,
187, 2ii-i2, 232, 376-7; meets
Queen Victoria, 212-13;

[430

Liberalism, 231; interest in
Ireland, 160-1; relations with
Chamberlain, 164-6, 296-301,
318-21, 327; northward ex-
pansion in Africa, 172, 190-3,
195-6, 198-203, 208-11, 224-7,
231-2, 240-1; resistance to
Boers, 227-9, *57-8, 280;
Johannesburg revolt and
Jameson's Raid, 265-70, 274,
277-9, * 8 *795> 302, 310-13;
relations with Milner, 368-9;
results of Jameson's Raid,
315-18, 320, 321, 323-4, 327-8,
3 3 9~5 8> 3 60-2; activities
during war, 37985
Rhodes, Edith, 5, 6, 251, 321, 386
Rhodes, Ernest, 4, 5, 409
Rhodes, Reverend Francis

William, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 22
Rhodes, Frank, 4, 5, 7, 16, 23, 3 1,
104, 278, 282, 314, 321, 323,
409
Rhodes, Herbert, 4, 5, 9, 11-14,

16, 21, 22, 26-8, 68, 412
Rhodes, Louisa, 6, 7, 22, 30
Rhodes, Samuel, 175
Rhodes family, 4, 175, 251
Rhodes Scholarship, 410-11
Rhodesia, 241

Rhodesia Railway Company, 359
Ripon, Lord, 179, 23 i, 234, 299,

300

Roberts, Lord, 383, 384
Roberts, Morley, The Colossus,

417-18
Robinson, Sir Hercules, 92, 95,

96, 104, 143-4, *54 S 155* *5 8 >
176-7, 1 86, 269, 274, 289,

33~"4> 353

Robinson, Joseph Benjamin,
65-7* 69, 126-8, 195, 224,
278, 297

INDEX

Rolleston, Captain, 9, 13
Rose-Innes, 203, 324
Rosebery, Lord, 164, 166, 231,
232, 269, 274, 300, 302, 343,

345 > 349> 373> 4<>8
Rothschild, House of, 58, 117-

120, 122, 128, 130, 163, 174,

181, 193, 230
Rothschild, Nathaniel Mayer,

first Baron, 117, 163, 164, 172,

220, 223, 343, 345 ^ ,
Royal Geographical Society, 174
Royal Horse Guards, 190-1
Rudd, Charles DuneM, 24, 26, 28,

29, 32, 49, 50, 60, 68, 127,

129-31, 148-53^ 1^8-70, 175,

Rudd concession, 152-60, 167,
178, 179, 184, 186, 189, 199,
227, 232

Ruskin, John, 37-8, 60

Saint James Gazette y 163
Salisbury, Lord, 143, 160, 170-

173, 175, 178, 203, 205-7, zz ^y

274-5, 297, 306, 309, 318

323, 344, 362, 373
Samoa concession, 375
Saturday J&view, 194, 256
Sauer, Hans, 112, 126-9, X 97

*3, *37> 3*7 33 5> 337> 349>

363

Saxon* 418
Schickerling, Maria Elizabeth,

388

Scholtz, Dr, 401
Schreiner, Olive, 204, 257-8,

341-2, 390, 391, 39*-7;

Trooper Peter Halket> 3 41 ,

397-8; Story of an African

Farm, 391, 394-5, 397
Schreiner, W. P., 197, 218, 286,

289, 291-3, 310, 313, 317,

324-5, 341-2, 362-3, 393, 397
Secoconi, 12-13
Secret society, Rhodes' pkn for

British expansion, 62-3, 162,
* 219, 220, 410
Seeadler> 307

Selborne, Lord, 300, 343
Selous, Frederick Courteney,

174, 192, 199, 200, 202, 203,

208, 234

Shangani River, 239
Shaw, Flora, 301, 303, 304, 319,

350, 35i

Shepstone, T., 188-9
Shippard, Sir Sidney Godolphin,

62, 144^* 151* X 5*> 154-8,

185, 188, 209
Sigcau, 240-1
Slavery, 181, 329
Smith, 'Scotty', 84
Smuts, Jan Christiaan, 60, 198,

257-8, 378
Somabulane, 336
South Africa, policies for, 39,

41, 74-6, 79, 80, 104, 264, 367
South African League, 364
South African Republic, 78, 90;

see Ttansvaal
Southey, Sir Richard, 10
Spectator y Tbe> 229
Sprigg, Sir Gordon, 317
Stanley, H. M., 42-4, 170, 206
Stead, W. T., 161-3, 219, 220,

241, 254, 324, 345, 349, 378,

386, 392, 395, 408, 410, 411,

Stellaland, 85, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96,

102

Stellenbosch, 198

:43i]

INDEX

Stent, V., 335, 357

Strop Bill, 217

Sutherland, Duchess of, 387

Sutherland, Dr, 9, 10, 12-14,

*5> 3 1
Swaziland, 227

Swaziland convention, 212
Swinburne, Sir John, 177

U

Uganda, 206, 231-2

Uitlanders, agitation for alien
franchise, 264-5, *79> 377,
378; see Johannesburg rising

Umkomaas Valley, 9, n, 13

Umsheti, 137, 158, 183

Umdligazi, 137-9

United Concessions Company,
168, 179

University College, 3 1

Tantallon Castle, 362

Tati district, 27, 177, 179

Telegraph, 177, 193, 253

Temps, Le, 356

Thompson, Frank R., 149-51,
153, 156, 182-7, 189, 277,
285

Times, The, 27, 40, 65, 104, 126,
132, 141, 160, 163, 176, 194,
219, 304, 317

Togoland, 89

Transvaal: expansion, 19, 94,
138-42, 212; gold in, 39, 40,
127, 132, 264-5, *8o; relations
with Germany, 299, 307,
375-6; annexation of, 40, 41,
45, 77, 165; self-government
restored to, 79; alliance with
^Orange Free State, 170-1;
Reform movement in, 277-8,
281, 287, 314, 321, 361; coal
in, 193; friendship with Cape,
265; English designs on, 266,
366, 368, 377-85; see Boers,
Jameson's Raid, Johannes-
burg rising, Krager

Transvaal Naturalization Law,
279

Travellers' Club, 324

Truth, 167-8, 241, 320

Twain, Mark, 357-8

[43*

Van Niekirk, 92, 93, 95, 96, 102
Van Pittius, Gey, 92-4
Varzin, Bismarck's farm, 88
Verschoyle, Reverend John, 163,

172
Victoria, Queen, 70, 142, 145,

157-8, 165-6, 185-6, 191, 207,

212-13, *35> *5*, 38-9> 372,

375, 386

Vincent Club, 36
Von Bieberstein, Baron Mar-

schall, 307, 308

W

Warren, General Sir Charles,

95-7, 100-4, 141. 144
Waterboer, 16, 19
Wernher, Julius, 57-8, 121
Westminster budget, 357
White, Hon. 'Bobby 9 , 318
Wilds, Oscar, 36-7
Wilhelm II, Kaiser, 33, 60-1,

173, 206, 275, 299, 305-9,

373~5

Williams, Gardner, 128
Williams, Ralph, 144

INDEX

Wilioughby, Sir John, 225-8, Z

268, 288

Witwatersrand, 126, 195, 264-5 Zanzibar, 89

Wolff, Dr, 278, 283 Zola, Emile, Germinal., 249-50

Wright, Whitaker, 297 Zulus, u, 15, 142, 189, 239; ses

Wyndham, George, 327, 343 Cetywayo, Chaka

[433]

c

114237